J.R.R. Tolkien once wrote: "I wisely started with a map, and made the story fit." The Maps of Middle-earth presents four of Tolkien's iconic maps, reimagined and newly updated for this edition by acclaimed Tolkien artist, John Howe, and richly decorated with scenes from the books: Middle-earth, a breath-taking panorama of all the locations from Hobbiton to Mordor that feature in The Lord of the Rings; Wilderland, a charming evocation of the realm to which Bilbo journeyed 'there and back again' in The Hobbit; Beleriand, a lyrical portrayal of the ancient landscape of the First Age, where the great tales of The Silmarillion took place; Numenor, an exclusive reproduction of the legendary island described in Unfinished Tales, which was sunk beneath the waves in the Second Age of Middle-earth. The maps are accompanied by an authoritative text written by Brian Sibley, which tells the stories behind The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, and gives accounts of how the original maps came into being. Filled with illustrations by John Howe, many of which appear here for the first time, the book also features gazetteers of all the names on each of the four maps. They provide revealing insights into the significant role each place-name played in the stories, including those of Numenor, the island-kingdom once inhabited by Elendil and his sons, Isildur and Anarion, ancestors of Aragorn, that was sunk in a cataclysmic storm following the treacherous deeds of Sauron, as told in Of the Rings of Power in The Silmarillion.