Product Description

A tour through all of the major and minor conflicts that occur during the three parts of "The Lord of the Rings" movie trilogy. Battles, armour, weaponry, cultures and creatures: all are covered and explained, together with photos and illustrations and specially commissioned battle plans. The trilogy features some of the most exciting action adventure series ever filmed. The only problem is that the furious pace of the films means that the viewer barely has time to enjoy the visual spectacle of one particular action scene before they are hurtled headlong into another conflict. This title provides all the background that is absent from the films, taking the reader on a detailed tour through all of the major and minor conflicts that occur during the three parts of story. It explains the history behind each battle and examines the strategy used by both forces. Each of the major conflicts - "The Last Alliance of Elves and Men", the "Mines of Moria", "Helm's Deep" and the climactic battle of the "Pelennor Fields at Minas Tirith" - is illustrated by a specially commissioned battle plan that reveals exactly how the battle was fought. The book also describes in detail each of the many different races and armies that appear in the trilogy: Men, Elves, Dwarves, all the different races of Orcs, and the various allies of both the Fellowship and Mordor. Each will be discussed at length - how they fight, why they are fighting, what armour they wear and what weapons they use. These will enable the reader to get as close to a marauding Orc as they could ever wish, without suffering the consequences.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #763093 in Books
• Published on: 2003-11-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 160 pages

About the Author
John Howe was born in 1957 in Vancouver, Canada. He moved to France in 1976 and gained a Diploma in Illustration at the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs de Strasbourg in 1981. He has illustrated many French children's books, but is best known for his Tolkien calendars, book jackets, maps and posters, and he is currently working as a production designer on New Line Cinema's forthcoming Lord of the Rings movie trilogy.

Customer Reviews

Simply THE BEST Book on LOTR
This book is a perfect give for your LOTR addict, but hey, LOTRs fans you might not want to wait till someone gives this to you! This is simply worth every penny! Outside of the films, if someone asked me which was THE best LOTR gift to give or receive for LOTR fans, I would hands down recommend this wonderful book. It is just loaded with so much background, answers so many details, that I cannot image doing without this book in my LOTR collection.

As one who collects swords and knives, loves fencing and enjoys all sorts of books on weaponry and a hopeless LOTRs addict, this is one gem of a book. It is not thin volume, but a jam-packed book loaded with 100s of photos, maps & artwork and a forward by Christopher Lee.

217 pages of high quality pages covering every aspect of the rings. It starts with the history of the War of the Ring, the last alliance of Elves and Men, covers the Dead Marshes, with chapters on ever main character in all three films, going into the armour and the weapons they used. At the end is a glossary for quick reference.

There is not enough praise for this book. It is just likely THE BEST collectors item for the Rings and if you don't have one you are missing a wonderful item for your collection.

For those that love the ring of steel.
A super book. Very well researched and impressively accurate with its weapons detail. I have professional interest in arms and armour, and I have an extensive library of scholarly and academic works, yet this book leaves many of them floundering! Not-with-standing the fact that this work relates to a fantasy, the author has not padded out the weaponnary information with bunk, or invention. I very much appreciate any author who treats his subject and the reader with respect, whatever age they might be. The descriptions of sword forging are suprising knowledgeable and the author has a real insight into such techniques, all of which add to the enjoyment and enthrall the reader.
The volume is well illustrated with photographs and stills from the movies, together with pre production artworks and artists renderings.
If you enjoyed LOTR then you will love this book. If you like mediaeval arms and armour then you will marvel at the wonderful designs of costume, arms and armour made for these films.
For older readers the book serves as an object lesson in modern design work. It is also effectivly a catalogue of costume and movie props, of great benefit to any student of the movie industry, particularly art and design.
If you are interested in making or designing your own arms and armour then this will be an indispensable reference of how it should be done.
The book contains a first class glossary of arms and armour terminology and the author has quite clearly done some extensive research and is to be commended for not "dumbing down" the work.
In conclusion, an extremely exciting and enjoyable book for any young person, with enough to interest the older reader. I am actualy going to use the book in my lectures especially for children.
If you are a LOTR fan then you'll already have this. If you like the arms and armour of the ancient world then you too will enjoy this book.
The only minor critisism I have is that the publishers didn't wait until after the release of "Return of the King" and thereby include even more stills from that movie, but that is a trivial complaint.
Congratulations to Chris Smith a fine work. Buy it now as a first edition before it becomes a collectors item!
Alex Mackay from the land of the Claidheamhmor.

Very Good LOTR Book
This is one best LOTR books I've come across. It is good for ardent and less ardent LOTR fans and also people interested in weapons and warfare.
It nicely fills in a lot of the background behind the Ring Quest without insulting your intelligence. The details on the weapons and costumes are very good and also gives clear exmaples on the various fighting styles.
Well written and very readable and lots of photographs and drawings.