Thomas P. Hillman is a retired scholar and teacher of classics whose work on J. R. R. Tolkien has appeared in Tolkien Studies and in presentations at Mythmoot and other conferences.

"Tom Hillman brings compassion--and a wealth of knowledge--to this analysis of Tolkien's use of pity in The Lord of the Rings. Scholars, students, and fans will learn from it." --Verlyn Flieger, author of Splintered Light and A Question of Time

"Thomas Hillman gives the finest sustained close reading that The Lord of the Rings has ever received. Hillman examines how pity, as a concept and sentiment, manifests itself in the actions of Frodo and others as they struggle with the uncanny, malevolent lure of the One Ring." --Nicholas Birns, author of The Literary Role of History in the Fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien

"Hillman's study of Tolkien is both timely and timeless. Timely, because events in our world seem to be mirroring what Tolkien saw around him as he wrote and revised his masterpiece. Timeless, because Hillman's insights, despite being entirely original, are the kinds of observations that make you think 'Of course! How did I not think of that?' and forever change your understanding of a work you thought you knew."--Michael D. C. Drout, Wheaton College, Massachusetts