This book is about a rare achievement in history, that of forecasting the present. While JRR Tolkien's epic saga, The Lord of the Rings, unfolds in an imaginary world set in ancient time, he speaks in metaphor about our time. It is as if he explored our present world fifty years in advance on the basis of established trends in our responses to universal principles. In his explorations he sets before us critical choices and asks us to forecast our future according to the logic of the choices that we are willing to make. — The exploration in this book of The Lord of the Rings' metaphors assumes that the reader is somewhat familiar with the storyline of Tolkien's great tale, The Lord of the Rings. The book is designed to enrich this story by bringing into focus surprising elements of it, rather than to retell the story itself.