A reference book dealing with the geography, races, and individuals of Middle-earth. Basically an illustrated dictionary. While the artwork is frequent and varied (there are a number of different artists, using a number of different styles and techniques, which makes for a very interesting and enjoyable set of illustrations), the text, though thorough, is not without mistakes and can be extremely repetitive.

Would have liked it more had there been more art and less words. Cut down all the endless repetition and the text would have been half the length.