The War for Middle-earth

J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis Confront the Gathering Storm, 1933-1945

By: Joseph Loconte

Narrated by: Greg Marston

For fans of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, discover the story behind their unique friendship forged in the darkness of World War II and how it inspired the stories of The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Chronicles of Narnia and Mere Christianity.

In a world devastated by the cataclysm of war, two extraordinary authors and friends, J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, delivered a bracing vision of the human story: a path back to goodness, beauty, and faith. How did they do it?

For the first time, historian Joseph Loconte explains how the catastrophe of World War II trans­formed the lives and literary imagination of Tolkien and Lewis. The mechanized slaughter of the First World War had created a storm of disillusionment with the political and religious ideals of Western civilization. The new ideologies of Modernism, communism, Nazism, and totalitarianism rushed to fill the vacuum. At stake was a contest between civilization and barbarism. Tolkien and Lewis sought each other out in friendship and threw themselves into the struggle.

The War for Middle-earth explores how their most beloved works—The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Chron­icles of Narnia, Mere Christianity—were conceived in the shadow of the most devastating and dehumanizing war in history. Like no other authors of their age, Tolkien and Lewis used their imagi­nation to reclaim for their generation—and for ours—those deeds of valor and virtue and love that have always kept a lamp burning, even in the deepest darkness.

In The War for Middle-earth you will:

• Be inspired by Tolkien's and Lewis's Christian imagination, which even today has the power to transform hearts desperate for hope and truth
• Find encouragement and strength to resist evil in our own day
• Discover how a biblical view of truth and beauty can light the path out of the deepest darkness

Combining a careful study of history and compelling storytelling, The War for Middle-earth reveals the remarkable achievement of these authors and friends: a recovery of heroism and faith despite deep sorrow and suffering. Here are enduring lessons for today's cultural moment and essential reading if you want to discover how great stories can reveal great truths.

Photos and the bibliography can be found in the audiobook companion PDF download.

Great book with a message

Loved learning the influence that the great wars had on two of the western canonical’s two great writers.

A friendship that changed the literary landscape

Loconte offers a deeply researched and insightful examination of the ideological water in which Lewis and Tolkien swam and worked, the interbellum and WW2 history of Great Britain, the friendship and writerly encouragement between Lewis and Tolkien (and the other Inklings, but these two centrally), and the way the world events from the First World War through the rise of totalitarianism and the Second World War shaped their imaginations and work. The Nazgul bear the imprint of the Blitz. Lewis housed a series of evacuees not unlike the evacuees in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. World War II generated an astonishing amount of Lewis’s Christian apologetic work and honed his ability to communicate to lay persons of varied educational backgrounds. Lewis’s enthusiasm and collegial criticism spurred perfectionist Tolkien to stop revising/rewriting and finish The Hobbit and LOTR. It astonished me how committed the Inklings were to weekly meetings throughout WW2 and how prolific Lewis and Tolkien were during this harrowing time, despite their full-time teaching responsibilities, family demands, illness, and assorted war work on the home front.

What a remarkable look at a remarkable pair during a remarkable time in history. We in 2025 would do well to learn from it.