Themes of The Lord of the Rings This is, according to Shippey, a very modern, 20th-century theme, since in earlier, medieval times, power was considered to "reveal character", not alter it. Shippey mentions Lord Acton's famous statement in 1887, that ""Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men..."" He then goes on to point out authors that were dealing in the same themes of power and corruption at around the same time as Tolkien wrote his work. These authors include George Orwell with "Animal Farm" (1945), William Golding with "Lord of the Flies" (1954), and T. H. White with
William Grant, Lord Prestongrange daughters: On the death of Janet, Countess of Hyndford in 1818, her nephew, Sir James Suttie, succeeded to the Preston-Grange estate (purchased by Grant in 1746), and assumed the additional surname of Grant. Grant was the chief prosecutor of "James of the Glen" Stewart for aiding and abetting "The Appin Murder" – the May 1752 ambush and murder of Colin "The Red Fox" Campbell. This incident is described in Robert Louis Stevenson's novel "Catriona" where he appears as Lord Prestongrange. William Grant, Lord Prestongrange William Grant, Lord Prestongrange (1701 – 23 May 1764), was a Scottish politician and judge. Grant