Master of Middle-Earth

Master of Middle-earth

First paperback edition. The cover image shows Tolkien with a favourite tree.[1]
Author	Paul H. Kocher
Language	English
Subject	J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre	Tolkien studies
Publisher	Houghton Mifflin
Publication date	1972
Publication place	United States
Media type	Hardcover (paperback, 1973)
Pages	247
ISBN	978-0-395-14097-0

Master of Middle-earth: The Fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, alternatively subtitled The Achievement of J.R.R. Tolkien, is a 1972 book of literary criticism of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy writings, written by Paul H. Kocher, and one of the few to be published in Tolkien's lifetime. It focuses especially on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, and also covers some of his minor works such as "Leaf by Niggle" and "Smith of Wootton Major".

At a time when scholars were largely critical of Tolkien and his prose style, it both praised his writing and, in the absence of either The Silmarillion or Christopher Tolkien's The History of Middle-earth on the process of creation of Tolkien's fiction, it correctly inferred many of his major themes. It was one of the earliest book-length analyses of Tolkien's work, winning Kocher the 1973 Mythopoeic Society's Scholarship in Inkling Studies Award.