Finally, a Tolkien-related book where I can't avoid admitting that I bought it for the pictures. Not counting the front and back cover, this book has 58 pictures by about 16 different artists. Styles vary from Cor Blok's medieval-looking art to Ted Nasmith's simultaneously realistic and fantastic stuff. Each image comes with an excerpt from the inspiring text (usually LOTR or The Hobbit) quoted on the opposite page. A mini-biography of each of the artist appears at the end of the book. Many of the images are ones that I had seen before, such as the Houghton Mifflin editions of LOTR or various galleries out on the 'Net. But this book is physically large, with the pages about 8.5" x 11", so the pictures are probably bigger than what you've seen before. Is it worth it? Beats me. This is about as close to 100% pure fluff as you can get, but people like Nasmith and Howe and Phenix make the fluff so inviting and immersive that I can't say that's a bad thing.