The War of the Ring

Volume Eight of the History of Middle-earth covers the drafts for the final section of The Two Towers and the early drafts of The Return of the King, from the siege of Minas Tirith through to the fall of Sauron.

Christopher Tolkien presents the working manuscripts that show how the Pelennor Fields battle, the Houses of Healing, and the multiple climaxes of the story were drafted and revised.

Particularly illuminating are the chapters showing how the Paths of the Dead, Eowyn's defeat of the Nazgul, and the final confrontation at the Cracks of Doom developed across different versions -- including versions where the story took substantially different directions before arriving at the form the world knows.