The Battles of Tolkien (3) (Tolkien Illustrated Guides)

I discovered David Day's books in a bookstore in Iceland, came home and bought all three: The Dictionary, Atlas, and Battles. I'm quite in love with them, but posting primarily to let folks know about the sticker on the back. I'm a bit put out that I damaged the back of at least one of the leatherette covers in order to get the sticker off. Who does that to a good book (or any book for that matter)?! Books are considered a treasure by many and the big, sticky sticker on the back cover is a way of defacing them. The books, on their own, would merit five stars, but as sold through Amazon, only four, since I believe the cover, binding, and print, etc. should be considered. They all came this way, so that's clearly how they're sold through Amazon. Buyer beware.

I had thought, based on some summaries, that there would be more to this book. Some connections he drew were good and I didn’t know them. But it would have been better if the battles armies and tactics of the sources were more closely examined.

as advertised...good deal ..excellent...

My husband is a tolkien nerd. I love the quality of these books. They have a nice, probably faux leather cover, and good quality material. The only things I dislike about this item is the content. It looks great on a shelf, but most of the content isnt truly based on Tolkien's works, it is made up by David Day. So if that is what you're looking for, fantastic. That's why I gave it three stars, because that wasnt what I personally was looking for, but it wasnt all bad

Love the maps of the battles very creative! And the time lines and diagrams/charts are so helpful accurate and detailed!! Helped a lot trying to understand and grasp all the battles in all of Tolkien’s works!! Regarding Middle Earth.

I am a huge fan of all things Tolkien, so any books written by him or others that involve Lord of the Rings I will buy!

The above selections don't really apply to a Tolkien analysis like this. David Day is well-known in his field. The binding and artwork are beautiful, the research is interesting (even some insights I had not previously read), and it's definitely a unique collectible for us Tolkien buffs.

The book is pretty and it's got some really fun pictures. However, it is also full of typos and mistakes.The maps in it are not very clear, which granted the author explains why at the beginning, but he didn't explain that in almost all of the maps some of the symbols in the key are wrong. (Looking at you orcs and the Balrog mix up.)There were also a few factual issues where the author says something that is not true to the histories of Middle Earth.The final issue is that in a book entitled "The Battles of Tolkien" you'd expect him to actually talk about the battles. He seemed more interested in explaining the historical and mythical background to the story as opposed to the actual events and timeline of the battles.If you want a good book to explain the battles and timeline of Middle Earth I would recommend "The Atlas of Middle Earth".

I had recently purchased (and gave a 2 star review) to the Atlas in the same series but I thought I'd give them one more try: they are very pretty but the range does seem to be the ultimate example of judging a book by its cover.The text is interesting and the author draws a lot (probably too much) on 'Tolkien draws on (christian/greek/norse) mythology or reality here blah blah blah'. Interesting but not perhaps as focused as I was hoping for.Then the illustration is... okay. Like the Atlas, a lot of it is work I've seen before in other books (including David Day's Bestiary) but hey: less than thirteen quid so it can't all be new, original art.Sadly, what is new are the illustrations of maps. I say that 'illustrations of maps' because maps they are not.I hope the payment for the maps was in sweeties rather than cash because what they are - frankly - are childish scrawls that might well have been done in crayons. Pictographic, meaningless, impossible to comprehend nonsense drawn badly with poor icons (often not representative of what they are meant to be) with some arrows on a cartoon background. Dreadful.So: that's a wasted opportunity

Some of the artwork is nice, but there's no real depth here. Indeed, a lot of the content is recycled from his earlier work - which seems to be a common thread among David Day's Tolkien books. He has come in for a lot of criticism by Tolkien fans, indeed Christopher Tolkien himself has denounced his work, favouring the excellent work by Robert Foster - The Complete Guide to Middle-earth. After reading The Battles of Tolkien it's hard not to agree. There are lots of excellent Tolkien publications out there - this is not one of them.

David Day continues to impress with the latest edition to his Tolkien book series. I preordered this around a month before it's release, as I had no doubt that this book would live up to the standards of both 'A Dictionary of Tolkien' and 'An Atlas of Tolkien.' I LOVE these books. As a huge fan of Tolkien's work and Middle Earth these books help to bring the lore behind it to life, and they do so in such a detailed and enticing way, with colourful illustrations, maps, and diagrams. This book is no exception! Furthermore, the way each of these books are presented is simply beautiful - the covers are a faux leather, and this one in particular is a rich red, with gold engraved writing making it stand out from any bookshelf.Mr Day, please keep doing what you're doing! I cannot express how much I love these books, and as an avid Tolkien fan these allow me to learn more about Middle Earth in such a clear, detailed way.To everyone else - don't hesitate, buy these books! The price is extremely good value and you will not be disappointed! :)

Its a nice little volume but it wasn't really what I was hoping for - the descriptions of the battles are rather vague and a number of the illustrations are re-used from other sources (notably Day's other books on Tolkien). The maps are a little sketchy and far from clear and there is mno breakdown of forces provided.

Very disappointed - a beautifully produced book, I loved the embossed cover but let down when you open it. The artwork is poor and battle maps crude and not very interesting There is little analysis of the battles and arguably it tells you less than you'd get from the original books; I was expecting more.