本书将探讨J.R.R. Tolkien所创作的中土世界是多么有远见，现在去看它比在任何时候都重要。

The Hobbit是在1937年出版，而作者创作的虚构世界只是一年比一年更受欢迎。为什么中地世界跟它的居民们这么受读者的喜爱，捕捉了好几百万人的想象力？现在，托尔金作品简直是一个产业，从书籍、电影、游戏以及即将面市的电视剧The Rings of Power（被认为是历史上最贵的一季电视剧:

这本书探讨了这个现象以及为什么托尔金到今天还是能启发这么多读者。作者分析了托尔金最原始的创作以及较后期的改编，讨论的主题包括友情、失落、不确定性、大环境、那些奇怪或诡异的事情，甚至疫情，来讨论这些话题如何在书中以及我们现在的生活有相关的应用。其实，托尔金的黄金时刻就是现在。

关于作者：

Nick Groom is an academic and writer. He is Professor in English at the University of Exeter and has written widely on literature, music, and contemporary art. He is the author of a dozen books and editions, including The Forger's Shadow (2002), The Gothic (2012) and, most recently, The Seasons (2013). He lives on Dartmoor with his wife, two daughters, and one cat, and keeps a flock of Black Welsh Mountain sheep. Due to his extensive work on the Gothic, especially on the history of vampires, he has become known as the 'Prof of Goth' in the media and has written several articles on the Goth scene, including essays on the singer, Nick Cave.

好评：

Groom's enthusiasm is hard to resist, and his garnering of folklore and customs that, for centuries, guided life through the changing seasons bulges with fascination.-- John Carey ― Sunday Times on The Seasons

It's no exaggeration to say that this is a volume I have been waiting for all my life... This is a rich celebration of traditions and a plea for them not to be forgotten. -- Bel Mooney ― Daily Mail on The Seasons

Wonderful and timely. -- Philip Hoare ― Independent on The Seasons