The Second Age of Middle-earth was, in the words of J.R.R. Tolkien, "a gloomy age, and not very much of its history is (or needs to be) revealed." And for many years, readers had to make do with the tantalising hints of it provided in The Lord of the Rings and its appendices, such as the creation of the Rings of Power, the construction of the Barad-d?r, and Sauron's ascent. A more comprehensive account couldn't be told until Christopher Tolkien's The Silmarillion was released after his father's passing. Although the most of the book's content was on the First Age of Middle-earth, its conclusion featured two important works that described the turbulent events surrounding the island's rise and demise. of N?menor. Raised out of the Great Sea and gifted to the Men of Middle-earth as a reward for aiding the angelic Valar and the Elves in the defeat and capture of the Dark Lord Morgoth, the kingdom became a seat of influence and wealth; but as the N?men?reans? power increased, the seed of their downfall would inevitably be sown, culminating in the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. Even greater insight into the Second Age would be revealed in subsequent publications, first in Unfinished Tales of N?menor and Middle-earth, then expanded upon in Christopher Tolkien?s magisterial twelve-volume The History of Middle-earth, in which he presented and discussed a wealth of further tales written by his father, many in draft form. Now, adhering to the timeline of ?The Tale of Years? in the appendices to The Lord of the Rings, editor Brian Sibley has assembled into one comprehensive volume a new chronicle of the Second Age of Middle-earth, told substantially in the words of J.R.R. Tolkien from the various published texts, with new illustrations in watercolour and pencil by the doyen of Tolkien art, Alan Lee.