Drawing on Marxist literary criticism and narrative theory, this book examines the form and content of Tolkien’s work, demonstrating how the heroic romance is simultaneously employed and subverted by Tolkien in his tale of an unlikely hero, “quite a little fellow in a wide world,” who nonetheless makes history.

1. Introduction: In a hole in the ground.- 2. The Way to Talk to Dragons: Interpellation, Style, and Narrative Form.- 3. Nasty Disturbing Uncomfortable Things: The Intrusions of History.- 4. Show Me Now Your Map: Towards a Literary Cartography of Middle-earth.- 5. More Dangerous and Less Wise: Race, Class, and the Geopolitical Order.- 6. Conclusion: Quite a little fellow in a wide world.

This book is a critical introduction to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, but it also advances an argument about the novel in the context of Tolkien’s larger literary and philosophical project. Notwithstanding its canonical place in the fantasy genre, The Hobbit is ultimately a historical novel. It does not refer directly to any “real” historical events, but it both enacts and conceptualizes history in a way that makes it real. Drawing on Marxist literary criticism and narrative theory, this book examines the form and content of Tolkien’s work, demonstrating how the heroic romance is simultaneously employed and subverted by Tolkien in his tale of an unlikely hero, “quite a little fellow in a wide world,” who nonetheless makes history. First-time readers of Tolkien, as well as established scholars and fans, will enjoy this engaging and accessible study of The Hobbit. Robert T. Tally Jr. is a Professor of English at Texas State University, USA. His books include For a Ruthless Critique of All That Exists: Literature in an Age of Capitalist Realism (2022), Topophrenia: Place, Narrative, and the Spatial Imagination (2019), and Fredric Jameson: The Project of Dialectical Criticism (2014).

“This guide combines an introduction to The Hobbit’s significance to both Tolkien’s legendarium and fantasy in general with fresh theoretical approaches to the text. Tally uses the tools of historicism, narrative theory, Marxism, and geocriticism (among others) to help the reader better understand this not-so-simple classic of children’s fantasy. His application of these varied theoretical approaches to the enduring question of race in Tolkien’s work is particularly valuable in our current climate.” (Janet Brennan Croft, Associate University Librarian, University of Northern Iowa, USA, and editor of the journal Mythlore)“Robert T. Tally Jr.’s book deals with a very well-known novel – J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit – that is simultaneously a foundational text within Tolkien’s work and an anomalous outlier, just as hobbits themselves have always felt slightly out of place in the wider world of Middle-earth despite playing a central role in its fate. Tally addresses this ambiguous status from several angles, in a work that is both highly readable and securely founded in Tolkien scholarship.” (Dr Catherine Butler, Reader in English Literature, Cardiff University, UK)“Tally’s study of the The Hobbit is a whirlwind tour of Middle-earth from below, charted by Marx, Benjamin, Jameson, and Brecht, uncovering what the history, ideology, and politics of that strange place might teach us about our own much stranger one.” (Gerry Canavan, Marquette University, USA, and President of the Science Fiction Research Association)“Tally shows how Tolkien’s first published novel was both anomalous with the rest of his vast legendarium, yet remains foundational within it. An outlying text, then, may benefit from an outlying critical lens, and here Tally deploys his expertise in Marxist and dialectical criticism to read The Hobbit in valuable new ways — both with and against the grain, as he says — offering insights into style, narrative form, race, class, historicity, and more.” (Jason Fisher, Author of Tolkien and the Study of His Sources: Critical Essays (2011))

Introduces and provides expert insights into "The Hobbit" and Tolkien studies Engages with interdisciplinary modes of criticism drawing from philosophy, geography, and history Points to new critical lenses for Tolkien studies including race, space and place, narrative theory, and Marxist theory

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