Tales Before Tolkien

I just finished the book "Tales Before Tolkien The Roots of Modern Fantasy." While the library does not own the book, it does own: "J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century" by T.A. Shippey which does discuss the influences on Tolkien and how he took the fantasy genre to a whole new level.

That point, I think, is made pretty clear in the book "Tales Before Tolkien" where we see the fantasy at the time of the late 19th and early 20th was pretty simple. Tolkien brought an epic proportion to the genre and was amazing in the depth of the world he had created over his lifetime. The link below is to the Scottsdale Public Library and the info about the Shippey book. Rick

http://libcat.scottsdaleaz.gov/search?/Xtolkien&SORT=D/Xtolkien&SORT=D&SUBKEY=tolkien/1%2C174%2C174%2CB/frameset&FF=Xtolkien&SORT=D&14%2C14%2C