There and Back Again: In the Footsteps of J.R.R. Tolkien (In the Footsteps S.) - Softcover

Like many adolescents, Mathew Lyons was obsessed by J.R.R. Tolkien's novels. But as an adult, he lost interest. Until, that is, he became a parent and began to explore Tolkien's world all over again. Only this time he discovered something different from the realm of fantasy and myth he remembered: he discovered Tolkien's England.
Tolkien always said his original intention had been to create a work that would celebrate England. But which England was he celebrating? And where was it to be found? From a wartime posting on the bleak Yorkshire coast to a youthful holiday on Cornwall's Lizard Peninsular, from a Roman temple on the Welsh borders to burial mounds on the Berkshire Downs, Mathew Lyons follows Tolkien's trail, seeking the English landscapes that inspired him and trying to understand the complex emotions that drove Tolkien to his creative achievement.
There and Back Again explores Tolkien's idea of England and his unique perspective on English history. It is as much about England as the making of Middle Earth. And it is about Lyons's own journey as a reader, too, tracing his arc from enrapture through indifference to a deeper understanding of where Tolkien's power as a writer lies.