The History of Middle-earth books in order
The History of Middle-earth is a series of 14 books by J. R. R. Tolkien: 5,259 pages in the 12 with a known length, about 96 hours of reading. Shown in the numbered order.
- 14
- books
- 5,259
- pages in 12 of them
- 96 hours
- to read those 12
- 193 days
- at 30 minutes a day
The Book of Lost Tales 5.7 h 2 
The Book of Lost Tales: Part II 7.7 h 3 
The Lays of Beleriand 7.2 h 4 
The Shaping of Middle-earth 7.0 h 5 
The Lost Road and Other Writings 8.4 h 6 
The Return of the Shadow 9.1 h 
The Treason of Isengard 9.2 h 8 
The War of the Ring 8.7 h 9 
Sauron Defeated 6.8 h 10 
Morgoth's Ring 8.9 h 11 
The War of the Jewels 8.6 h 12 
The Peoples of Middle-earth 9.1 h Bar height shows length. Books without a number have no number in our records.
The books
- 1
The Book of Lost Tales 1983 5.7 h
The story begins with a man named Eriol, as he lands on the 'Lonely Island' mythical prehistory England.
- 2
The Book of Lost Tales: Part II 1984 7.7 h
The stories continues from "Part I", and begins with Eriol, having spent spent many days at the 'Cottage of Lost Play', a house he arrived at while traveling.
- 3
The Lays of Beleriand 1985 7.2 h
This is the third volume of the History of Middle-earth, which comprises here-tofore unpublished manuscripts that were written over a period of many years before Tolkien's…
- 4
The Shaping of Middle-earth 1986 7.0 h
In this truly indispensable reference, trace the development of the early lore of Middle-earth.
- 5
The Lost Road and Other Writings 1987 8.4 h
At the end of the 1937 J.R.R. Tolkien reluctantly set aside his now greatly elaborated work on the myths and heroic legends of Valinor and Middle-earth and began The Lord of the…
- 6
The Return of the Shadow 1988 9.1 h
The Return of the Shadow is the first volume of the The History of The Lord of the Rings and the sixth volume of The History of Middle-earth.
-
The History of The Lord of the Rings 1988 length not known
- 7
The Treason of Isengard 1989 9.2 h
The Treason of Isengard is the second volume of The History of The Lord of the Rings and the seventh volume of The History of Middle-earth.
- 8
The War of the Ring 1990 8.7 h
The War of the Ring is the third volume of The History of The Lord of the Rings and the eighth volume in The History of Middle-earth.
- 9
Sauron Defeated 1992 6.8 h
- 10
Morgoth's Ring 1993 8.9 h
In Morgoth's Ring, the tenth volume of The History of Middle-earth and the first of two companion volumes, Christopher Tolkien describes and documents the legends of the Elder…
- 11
The War of the Jewels 1994 8.6 h
- 12
The Peoples of Middle-earth 1996 9.1 h
-
The Fall of Númenor length not known
How much is left
| After book 1, The Book of Lost Tales | about 91 hours left, not counting 2 books of unknown length |
| After book 2, The Book of Lost Tales: Part II | about 83 hours left, not counting 2 books of unknown length |
| After book 3, The Lays of Beleriand | about 76 hours left, not counting 2 books of unknown length |
| After book 4, The Shaping of Middle-earth | about 69 hours left, not counting 2 books of unknown length |
| After book 5, The Lost Road and Other Writings | about 60 hours left, not counting 2 books of unknown length |
| After book 6, The Return of the Shadow | about 51 hours left, not counting 2 books of unknown length |
| After The History of The Lord of the Rings | about 51 hours left, not counting 1 book of unknown length |
| After book 7, The Treason of Isengard | about 42 hours left, not counting 1 book of unknown length |
| After book 8, The War of the Ring | about 33 hours left, not counting 1 book of unknown length |
| After book 9, Sauron Defeated | about 27 hours left, not counting 1 book of unknown length |
| After book 10, Morgoth's Ring | about 18 hours left, not counting 1 book of unknown length |
| After book 11, The War of the Jewels | about 9 hours left, not counting 1 book of unknown length |
Reading the whole series
About 96 hours 25 minutes
12 of 14 books, 5,259 pages. Estimated at 250 words a minute.
193 days (about 28 weeks) at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.