The magical world of Hobbits has been rediscovered and millions are falling under its spell. Exploring the brilliant web of verbal hocus-pocus that J.R.R Tolkien spun in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, master hobbit investigator David Day reveals the myriad crafty puns and riddles, hidden meanings and mythical associations beneath the saga's thrilling surface. Intriguing to the uninitiated, enchanting to the Tolkien enthusiast, THE POCKET HOBBIT COMPANION can only enhance our enjoyment of this dark, mysterious world.

Author Biography

David Day is a graduate of Melbourne and Cambridge Universities. After completing a thesis on Anglo-Australian relations in the Second World War, he went on to become a Junior Research Fellow at Clare College, Cambridge, before being appointed Associate Professor at Bond University in Queensland. In 1993, he was appointed Professor of Australian History at University College Dublin before later taking up a Senior Research Fellowship at La Trobe University in Melbourne. He has twice served as Professor of Australian Studies at the University of Tokyo, and been an Archives By-Fellow at Clare College Cambridge and is a visiting professor at the University of Aberdeen. He currently divides his time between Melbourne and Aberdeen. His many books include best-selling histories of the Second World War, biographies of Australian prime ministers, and a study of Winston Churchill and Robert Menzies that has been made into a television documentary. He has also written a highly-praised history of Australia, Claiming a Continent, which has gone into several editions over the past ten years. His books have won or been short-listed for several literary prizes, with Claiming a Continent winning the prestigious non-fiction prize at the Adelaide Festival. His latest book, Conquest: How societies overwhelm others, has been published to acclaim in Australia, Britain and the United States, and been translated into Spanish, Korean and Czech. He has appeared frequently on radio and television discussing his books and has been interviewed for several television documentaries. He has also appeared at literary festivals in Australia and the United Kingdom, several times spoken at the Sydney Institute and invited to address Australia's National Press Club. He has been a frequent contributor of op-ed pieces to newspapers in Australia, and has written on history and current affairs for publications ranging from History Today, the Monthly and HistoryScotland to the Wall Street Journal.