Many decades ago in England, a highly respected professor at Oxford was correcting exam papers and, having a few minutes to spare, idly scribbled on a blank page in an exam book, "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit." He didn't even know what a hobbit was, or why he wrote those words. But they were, nevertheless, the beginning of one of the most famous fantasy adventure tales ever written. The professor was J.R.R. Tolkien, and the book, of course, was The Hobbit.

With the publication of The Hobbit and, later, The Lord of the Rings, readers were introduced to Tolkien's unique creation, Middle-earth. No other writer has conceived a world as distinct as Middle-earth, complete with its own geography, history, languages, and legends. And certainly no one has created characters as endearing as Tolkien's large-hearted, hairy-footed hobbits. The hobbits and their fellow inhabitants of Middle-earth--wizards, men, elves, ents, dwarves, orcs, trolls, wargs, the Nazgael, and others--continue to seize the imaginations of readers of every age.

In celebration of the publication of The Children of Hurin, the first complete book by JRR Tolkien in 30 years, Houghton Mifflin has put together an essential collection of Tolkien books. This set makes a great gift that every Tolkien fan should own. This collection includes everything from the first books that made Tolkien famous to the entire History of the Middle-earth to works indispensable in navigating Tolkien's great vision and creation.