J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring first appeared in 1954.
The first volume of The Lord of the Rings was published by George Allen & Unwin on 29 July 1954. It introduced readers to the formation of the Fellowship and followed the party from Rivendell toward the breaking of the company. The second volume, The Two Towers, appeared later in 1954, while The Return of the King was published in 1955.
The publication sequence is often confused with the date of The Hobbit, which appeared in 1937, or with the dates of Peter Jackson’s film adaptations, which began in 2001. The book’s title also does not describe the entire adventure: it is the name of the first volume and the first part of the larger narrative.