For years J.R.R. Tolkien's fans have wondered and speculated endlessly about whether Moria was retaken, who the Princes of Dol Amroth were, whether Cirdan's real name was "Cirdan", how the Dwarves ate if they spent their time digging and working mines, etc., etc., etc. The great mysteries are solved, and we learn for the first time just how extensive the Appendices to THE LORD OF THE RINGS were originally intended to be. Tolkien had to cut much of the material he had written, and only now, more than forty years later, we can officially declare the canon expanded. Of course there are the usual glimpses into other works -- arcane essays about the names of Finwe's descendants, a bit of history about the Dwarves (all seven Houses are named), some clues about the relationship of the Dunlendings and Breemen to the Dunedain, and how long the Hobbits actually lived beside men in the Vales of Anduin. And added treat is the full text of the abandoned sequel to THE LORD OF THE RINGS -- THE NEW SHADOW. Although many fans have eschewed THE HISTORY OF MIDDLE-EARTH books as too redundant, too boring, too expensive, this is the one volume that anyone who has read through the Appendices and wondered, "Is that all?", must have.