Reception of J. R. R. Tolkien legendarium which includes "The Hobbit", "The Lord of the Rings", and "The Silmarillion". Tolkien's "The Hobbit", a children's book, was first published in 1937, and it proved popular. However, "The Lord of the Rings", first published in 1954 through 1955, would give rise to the fandom as a cultural phenomenon. Bootleg paperbacks published by Ace Books eventually found their way into colleges in the US in the 1960s. In response, a revised, authorized edition was published by Ballantine Books. The "hippie" following latched onto the book, giving its own spin to the work's interpretation, such as the Dark Lord Sauron
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