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The Times' 20 best modern novels
4. 'The Lord of the Rings' by JRR Tolkien
Its Peter Jackson-directed film adaptations broke box office records, but the purists will always come back to the source - Tolkien's epic of Middle Earth fantasy which continues to inspire. Written throughout the second world war, it's hard not to draw reference to that epic slaughter's impact on the writer's own quest for escape.
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