The War of the Ring – J. R. R. Tolkien

History of the Lord of the Rings, Part Three + History of Middle Earth Volume VIII

Another of the compilations of Tolkien’s notes and drafts of the Lord of the Rings, spanning the time when Minas Tirith was under attack.  This part was started and stopped several times during the years of World War II, and there were several chronoligical shifts as Tolkien tried to get elements of the Frodo storyline and the War storyline to mesh properly.

One interesting feature was that the character of Faramir appeared late relative to the others.  Some other iconic moments, like Eowyn versus the Nazgul King were also late developments.  Otherwise, there isn’t time for the story to drift away from its origins as in the early books – matters are closer to their final form.