The Road to Middle-Earth The Road to Middle-Earth The Road to Middle-Earth: How J. R. R. Tolkien Created a New Mythology is a scholarly study of the works of J. R. R. Tolkien written by Tom Shippey. In Great Britain it was first published by Allen & Unwin in 1982, with a second edition published in 1993 by Harper Collins and a revised and expanded third edition published in 2003. It is currently published by Houghton Mifflin in the United States. The book discusses the sources of Tolkien's inspiration in creating the world of Middle-earth and the writing of works including "The Hobbit", "The
Reception of J. R. R. Tolkien "veiled geopolitics" implied in readings that interpret Sauron's Mordor and Sharkey's dictatorship in the Shire as parodies of Soviet Communism (Oberhelman 2006). E. P. Thompson in 1981 blames the cold warrior mentality on "too much early reading of The Lord of the Rings". Inglis (1983) modifies earlier accusations of fascism against Tolkien, but still maintains that the novel is a "political fantasy" for escapist middle-class readers in modern capitalist society. Griffin (1985) examines Tolkien in relation to Italian neofascism, again suggesting a proximity of Tolkien's ideals to those of the radical right. Other Marxist critics, however, have been more positive