The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

He is destined to find a lost army of men now dead yet entrapped in a curse set forth long ago by their own disobedience, in the place known as the paths of the dead. Aragorn by his courage and leadership proves himself a worthy ruler of men. Gandalf brings Pippin with him, who enters the service of the steward. Then Gandalf delivers news to the steward of Gondor that war is imminent. He steals Saruman's palantír and sees that Sauron will attack Minas Tirith. The story begins as Pippin is in Rohan, reunited with the remnants of the Fellowship of the Ring. Tolkien's preliminary design for the dust-jacket of The Return of the King. The structure of The Return of the King mirrors somewhat that of The Two Towers in that the first section recounts the various adventures of several characters including a massive battle, and the second section resumes the quest of the Ring-bearers. Tolkien criticised it as giving away less of the story but he was overruled by his publishers. The chosen title refers to Aragorn's assumption of the throne.

For the two final 'books' Tolkien suggested the titles The War of the Ring and The End of the Third Age, which however weren't use in publication but in the case of the third volume, he suggested The War of the Ring or The Return of the King.

The original publisher made the decision to split the work into three parts, publishing the fifth and sixth books and the appendices in the final volume.

Tolkien conceived of The Lord of the Rings as a single work comprising six sections he called 'books' and extensive appendices.

The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien