By J.R.R. Tolkien, 1937

ISBN 0395177111

There and Back Again, better known by its abbreviated title The Hobbit, is a fantasy novel written as a and children's book by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published on September 21st, 1937 to wide critical acclaim, and was later nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the New York Herald Tribune for best juvenile fiction.

The book states that it was set in a time "Between the Dawn of Faerie and the Dominion of Men", The Hobbit is the story of the quest of it's main character Bilbo Baggins. Bilbo is a hobbit who appreciates his quiet and non-exciting life, a life that is thrown into upheaval by the arrival of Gandolf. A brief synopsis of the book's plot is as follows, but please note that some will see this as a spoiler...So read accordingly... Gandalf tricks Bilbo into hosting a party for Thorin and his band of twelve dwarves, who sing of reclaiming the Lonely Mountain and its vast treasure from the dragon Smaug.

When the music ends, Gandalf unveils a map showing a secret door into the Mountain and proposes that the dumbfounded Bilbo serve as the expedition's "burglar". The dwarves ridicule the idea, but Bilbo, indignant, joins despite himself. The group travel into the wild, where Gandalf saves the company from trolls and leads them to Rivendell, where Elrond reveals more secrets from the map.

Passing over the Misty Mountains, they are caught by goblins and driven deep underground. Although Gandalf rescues them, Bilbo gets separated from the others as they flee the goblins. Lost in the goblin tunnels, he stumbles across a mysterious ring and then encounters Gollum, who engages him in a game of riddles with deadly stakes.

With the help of the ring, which confers invisibility, Bilbo escapes and rejoins the dwarves, improving his reputation with them. The goblins and Wargs give chase but the company are saved by eagles before resting in the house of Beorn. The company enter the black forest of Mirkwood without Gandalf.

In Mirkwood, Bilbo first saves the dwarves from giant spiders and then from the dungeons of the Wood-elves. Nearing the Lonely Mountain, the travellers are welcomed by the human inhabitants of Lake-town, who hope the dwarves will fulfil prophecies of Smaug's demise. The expedition travel to the Mountain and find the secret door; Bilbo scouts the dragon's lair, stealing a great cup and learning of a weakness in Smaug's armour.

The enraged dragon, deducing that Lake-town has aided the intruder, sets out to destroy the town. A noble thrush who overheard Bilbo's report of Smaug's vulnerability reports it to Bard, who slays the Dragon. When the dwarves take possession of the mountain, Bilbo finds the Arkenstone, an heirloom of Thorin's dynasty, and steals it.

The Wood-elves and Lake-men besiege the Mountain and request compensation for their aid, reparations for Lake-town's destruction, and settlement of old claims on the treasure. Thorin refuses and, having summoned his kin from the mountains of the North, reinforces his position. Bilbo tries to ransom the Arkenstone to head off a war, but Thorin is intransigent.

He banishes Bilbo, and battle seems inevitable. Gandalf reappears to warn all of an approaching army of goblins and Wargs. The dwarves, men, and elves band together, but only with the timely arrival of the eagles and Beorn do they win the climactic Battle of Five Armies.

Thorin is fatally wounded and reconciles with Bilbo before he dies. Bilbo accepts only a small portion of his share of the treasure, having no want or need for more, but still returns home a very wealthy hobbit.

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