The complete History of MIddle Earth

Howdy all. I've been lurking around this board for a while and I just wanted to say that the info here about Tolkien is awesome. I'm still a newcomer to Tolkien and his works (Still haven't read history of Middle Earth series) and I was looking around for a compilation version of those books when I came across The complete history of Middle Earth on Amazon.uk. They advertise that there are three volumes of the complete history forthcoming as well as one version that contains them all. They say it will not be published until October 2001 and will cost 250.00 pounds(or at least I think it is pounds). Am I correct to beleive that all of Tolkien's Middle Earth works are to be compiled into one huge book? I can not find much info on this subject because it is only being released in the UK (I live in the states). Any help or insights would be appreciated.