An Awfully big adventure [J.R.R. Tolkien]

This episode from a series on the making of modern children’s literature looks at the work of John Ronald Reuel, writer of the biggest selling children’s book ever, “The Hobbit” and creator of Middle Earth. The program discusses his childhood and education, his passion with language and phonology and his time at the Somme. It also talks about his literary influences (particularly Old Norse and Anglo Saxon literature), the formation of the Inklings with C.S. Lewis, his relationship with Allen and Unwin, and the evolution of the “Silmarillion.” Excerpts from “The Hobbit” are read and the plot of “The Lord of the rings” outlined. The program questions why Tolkien has universal appeal and looks at the acceptance of his work by counter culture America in the 1960s.