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Tolkien had piles and piles of notes and drafts and scribbles - some were early versions of stories that he abandoned, some were expansions of ideas that he may never really intended anyone beside himself from reading.

His son, as executor of his father's estate, has managed to collate, compile, edit and publish a portion of this massive amount of information in the twelve volume series: The History of Middle-earth:
The Book of Lost Tales, Part One, The History of Middle-earth (Vol. 1)

The Book of Lost Tales, Part Two, The History of Middle-earth (Vol. 2)

The Lays of Beleriand, The History of Middle-earth (Vol. 3)

The Shaping of Middle-earth, The History of Middle-earth (Vol. 4)

The Lost Road and Other Writings, The History of Middle-earth (Vol. 5)

The Return of the Shadow, The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part One: The History of Middle-earth (Vol. 6)

The Treason of Isengard, The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part Two: The History of Middle-earth (Vol. 7)

The War of the Ring, The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part Three: The History of Middle-earth (Vol. 8)

Sauron Defeated: The End of the Third Age, The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part Four: The History of Middle-earth (Vol. 9)

Morgoth's Ring: The Later Silmarillion, Part One, The History of Middle-earth (Vol. 10)

The War of the Jewels: The Later Silmarillion, Part Two, The History of Middle-earth (Vol. 11)

The Peoples of Middle-earth, The History of Middle-earth (Vol. 12)

And if you can manage to slog thru all of this, then you can better appreciate what it took to get The Children of Hurin published - as there were many versions and drafts that Christopher Tolkien must have struggled with to come to some sort of single publishable version. That, and you will better see that Tolkien's vision of Middle-earth was truly completely realized and consistent.

If I do manage to finish the book this weekend, I'll try to report back here!

Erik