A misunderstood man: Tolkien and the modern world -- Cradle convert to the grave: the child behind the myth -- Father Francis to Father Christmas: the father behind the myth -- True myth: Tolkien and the conversion of C.S. Lewis -- A ring of fellowship: Tolkien, Lewis, and the Inklings -- The creation of Middle Earth: the myth behind the man -- Orthodoxy in Middle Earth: the truth behind the myth -- The well and the shallows: Tolkien and the critics -- Tolkien as Hobbit: the Englishman behind the myth -- Approaching Mount Doom: Tolkien's final years -- Epilogue : Above all shadows rides the sun -- Index of characters and places in Tolkien's Middle Earth.;J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings took first place in a recent national poll to find the greatest book of the century. He may be the most popular writer of our age, but Tolkien is often misunderstood. This major new study of his life, his character and his work reveals the facts and confronts the myths. It explores the background to the man and the culture in which he wrote. Tolkien: Man and Myth observes the relationships that the master writer had with his closest literary colleagues. It reveals his uneasy relationship with C.S. Lewis, the writer of the Narnia books, and the roots of their estrangement. In this original book about a leading literary life, Joseph Pearce enters the world created by Tolkien in the seven books published during his lifetime. He explores the significance of Middle Earth and what it represented in Tolkien's thinking. Myth, to him, was not a leap from reality but a leap into reality. The impact of his great notoriety, his relationship with material possessions and his traditional religious faith are all explored, making it possible to understand both the man and the myth he created. - Back cover.