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The Penguin Group - history

The birth of the Penguin

Penguin was founded by Allen Lane in 1935 and is today one of the world's premier English language publishers.

70 years of an iconic brand

Penguin recently celebrated its 70th birthday, marking the revolutionary decision of founder Allen Lane, to launch the first Penguin paperbacks in 1935. After a weekend visiting Agatha Christie in Devon, Lane found himself on a platform at Exeter station searching the bookstall for something to read on his journey home. Appalled by the selection on offer, he decided that good quality contemporary fiction should be made available at an attractive price and sold not just in traditional bookshops but also in railways stations, tobacconists and chain stores. He wanted a 'dignified but flippant' symbol for his new business, and when his secretary suggested a Penguin, another employee was dispatched to London Zoo to do some sketches. 70 years later, Penguin is one of the most recognisable brands in the world.

The paperback revolution

The first Penguin paperbacks appeared in the summer of 1935, including works by Ernest Hemingway, André Maurois and Agatha Christie. They were colour coded - orange for fiction, blue for biography, green for crime - and cost just sixpence, the same price as a packet of cigarettes. They forever changed the way the public thought about books - the paperback revolution had begun.

Penguin became a separate company in 1936 and within 12 months it had sold a staggering 3 million paperbacks. A year later, the company moved to new offices and a warehouse and launched its Penguin Shakespeare series and the Pelican imprint for original non-fiction books on contemporary issues.

As conflict in Europe drew closer, Penguin specials such as What Hitler Wants achieved record-breaking sales. One of the bestselling titles during the second-world war was Aircraft Revolution, used by both civilians and the fighting forces to recognise enemy planes. Penguin also started an Armed Forces Book Club, bringing entertainment and comfort to soldiers isolated from their friends and family.

Hatching a new generation of book brands

Two of the company's most famous names were launched in the 1940's: Puffin was born in 1940 as a series of non-fiction picture books for children. They proved to be such a great success that Puffin started publishing fiction the following year, with Worzel Gummidge among its first titles. In 1946, Penguin Classics were launched with E V Rieu's translation of The Odyssey, making classic texts available to everyone. Today, this world famous series consists of more than 1200 titles, ranging from The Epic of Gilgamesh to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

A turning point in British censorship

The 1960's brought a revolution in popular culture, for which Penguin was at the forefront. The company was charged under the Obscene Publications Act in 1960, after publishing Lady Chatterley's Lover. Penguin fought back and was acquitted, marking a turning point in British censorship laws. People formed huge queues to buy the book and Penguin sold 2 million copies in six weeks.

Firmly established as a major force in publishing and British life, Penguin became a public company in 1961. The share offer was 150 times oversubscribed, setting a record for the London Stock Exchange. A new imprint was set up in 1967 under the name of Allen Lane The Penguin Press, a new venture for Penguin that allowed it to publish in both hardback and paperback.

Pearson buys Penguin

Sir Allen Lane died in 1970 and that same year, Pearson bought Penguin. The 1980's brought more change and expansion - the company acquired Frederick Warne, best known for its Beatrix Potter titles and set up the Viking imprint in 1984, and bought the Michael Joseph and Hamish Hamilton book publishing divisions in 1985. Like every other period in the company's history, Penguin continued to publish controversial books throughout the 1980's, including Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses.

Penguin continues to expand its range

Penguin Audiobooks were launched in 1993, bringing a mix of classic and contemporary titles to a listening audience and using the finest actors to record them. Penguin has since continued to explore new technology - it was the first trade publisher to have a website, the first to open an eBook store, and the first to launch a podcasting service http://thepenguinpodcastblogs.com, in 2005.

In 1996, Penguin took a 51% stake in Rough Guides, the acclaimed travel and music publishers, increasing to sole ownership in 2002. In 2000, Pearson bought Dorling Kindersley, publishers of highly visual and dynamic travel, reference and children's books, and added it to the Penguin Group in the UK.

A champion of free speech

Penguin retained its position as a champion of free speech in 2000, when it successfully defended a libel suit brought by revisionist historian David Irving, after the publication of Professor Deborah Lipstadt's Denying the Holocaust. The company also published Michael Moore's Stupid White Men in the UK in 2000, after attempts to ban it in the US.

The home of reading

Today, Penguin has offices in 15 countries, from Penguin US (formed in 1939), to Penguin Ireland (formed in 2003), and keeps over 5,000 different titles in print at any time.