I havent read the book, but reading reviews about it only makes me want to read the book more. Im sorry to hear that you cannot find yourself a copy of the book, but a certain way of getting one is to buy online.
I have done some searching on the book, and i have found some great reviews with good information. Also a page with some excerpts from the book. Here is a great review on the book
The Peoples Of Middle Earth Volume XII:
Quote:
Christopher Tolkien takes the reader back to the years 1950-1952 when his father was preparing the appendices and prologue for The Lord of the Rings. So much that had been written for publication was lost because the book was so big it simply couldnt all be used. So the appendices we have today were created by condensing the material originally intended for publication.
What we learn from the lengthy source material is that Tolkien really did anticipate many fannish questions and tried to answer them. A great deal of information concerning Hobbits, Elves, and the Edain (and Dunedain) was to be included. The essay "Of Dwarves and Men" also provides a fantastic study of early Second Age culture in the lands beyond the Misty Mountains. Unfinished Tales had led us to believe there was nothing more to be learned about the Second Age, but at the end of the History of Middle-earth series Christopher Tolkien unloaded a bombshell.
Peoples of Middle-earth also includes the previously unpublished opening pages for The New Shadow, the sequel J.R.R. Tolkien almost wrote to The Lord of the Rings. It begins after Aragorn has died and hints at a dark plot to overthrow King Eldarion. Sadly, Tolkien felt no passion for the story, which he deemed would be no better than a thriller. So he abandoned it just as the first taint of evil arose.
Tolkien researchers will also find that "The Shibboleth of Feanor" sets out the final and complete genealogy for Finwes descendants, and several accompanying essays explain minor details alluded to throughout the History of Middle-earth book
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If you like, you can read other reviews
here.
Also here is a
page to some sample papers of the book.
I also found a summary of the book:
The Peoples of Middle Earth
The Prologue
The evolution of the prologue to "The Lord of the Rings". Only parts of the variant texts are given.
Written: 1948 - before July 1950
The Appendix on Language
Included are a text containing much information on languages which was originally intended as a kind of preface to "The Lord of the Rings", the essay 'Languages at the end of the Third Age' which includes a great deal of Westron material later excluded and finaly several extracts from later versions of what would ultimately became the much reduced text of Appendix F.
Written: Probably 1948 and 1950 - 1955
The Family Trees
An account of the evolution of the genealogical tables in Appendix C, with the addition of the family trees of the Bolgers and the Boffins which were rejected from the final version.
Written: Late 1939 - 1955
The Calendars
Contains the earliest versions of Appendix D.
Also includes earlier versions of the Quenya and Sindarin names for seasons and months.
Written: c. 1949 - 1950
The History of the Akallabelleth
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