The Atlas of Middle-Earth Paperback – Illustrated, 10 April 2001

My sons loved this book, it's a real collectors item!

Bought this for my son, who is 12 and going through the LoTR trilogy. He loves it.

Nice print

All the maps you could wish for, to scale, with great detail, and as much text and explanations as there is maps, so just as good to read as to look at.See Beleriand of the Silmarillion in relation to Eriador and the LOTR lands. See Numenor, the Valinor lands of Aman, Eriador, Gondor, and so much more. See the whole world put together. There are dozens and dozens of maps, showing races, tribes or groups lands, language areas, migrations, voyages, journey routes, vegetation, climate, geology, town/cave plans, battles, the whole lot.Absolutely indispensable for any serious Tolkien fan. Get this book if you want to delve deep into the novels and get the most from them.My one issue is that this is not in full colour, just a limited range of black, greys and reddish-browns, so some of the keys to the maps are harder to follow and rely on shades for areas that are tricky to distinguish. The publisher would do well to create a full-colour version.

I think this book is indispensable if you are reading the Silmarillion. I started the book without it and soon realised the entire book is full of geographical descriptions as elves and men are constantly moving round Middle Earth. I prefer to relate stories like this to a map but found only a very small map of Beleriand embedded within Tolkien's text. it was frustrating not to be able to follow all the events which occurred on a map. This Atlas solved my problem as it has a number of fairly detailed maps of the regions of Middle Earth and Valinor described in the text. There are also explanatory notes next to many of the maps which help to explain their context and relevance. It is also very helpful for reading the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings (although these two books do have some maps included as appendices).

Its great for visualising the paths taken by the characters in the LOTR and I'd say its a must have if you're reading the Silamarillion since it makes all the confusing regions so much easier to understand. Excellent quality maps but also some really nice detailed description. If you enjoy looking at the tiny little maps provided in the Tolkien books, this atlas will blow your mind.

I found the book to be good overall, helps to visualise the locations and journeys, however there are errors and omissions, the most frustrating of these being the journeys of Tuor. Also Ulmo the Valar has been confused with Osse the Maia.

Karen Wynn Fonstad was a professional cartographer and it certainly shows in this truly magnificent atlas which could potentially have been called Atlas of Ëa although she does actually focus most of her excellent geographical scholastic skills on Middle Earth. She has brought a dimension to Tolkien which I can only drool over. How I ever missed this work, I will never know (I've just received my copy from Amazon). She has elaborated to an extraordinary level of cartographic detail which only Tolkien himself could possibly have envisaged (although I would have liked to see more on Númenóre perhaps).Here's a short list of some specifics to whet your appetite if you need convincing: the Gates and Falls of Sirion, Menegroth, Echoriath and Gondolin, various representations of Belegaer including one with a Great Rift running north to south (perhaps analogous to Earth's mid Atlantic rift...), Buckland and The Marish, Helm's Deep, Tol Brandir, Udûn and the Black Gate... even the back cover's adorned with a fabulously detailed map of the Hithaeglir!She also presents various notable journeys including those of the Elves from Cuiviénen, Turin and Nienor, Beren and Lúthien, Frodo and Sam as well as the voyages of the Númenóreans and the Dwarves' migrations. Add to this all the major battle scenes and a panoply of realms and kingdoms plus thematic topologies of climate, landforms, vegetation and population and you have before you an extremely well written document which I feel illustrates Tolkien's work admirably and, with some knowledge of the choice of extant commentaries, without equal. Treat yourself and get a hardcover copy because if you're a die-hard Tolkien fanatic, I can guarantee you'll otherwise wear it out!