George Allen & Unwin

George Allen & Unwin as a publishing imprint reflected a cross-section of the intellectual achievement of the Twentieth Century.    In his Remembrancer, former Chairman Rayner Unwin traces the vicissitudes of his own time with the Company. It is a digressive and personal history, with reflections on the delights as well as the dangers of a style of publishing that is now fast vanishing.    He particularly focusses on his memories of publishing famous authors including: • JRR Tolkien    • Thor Heyerdahl • Bertrand Russell    • Roald Dahl This frank and elegant publishing memoir covers the eventual take-over of the Company. A Remembrancer brings to life this sequence of events which led to the winding up of a distinguished firm.

Rayner Unwin spent his working life in book publishing. He succeeded his father Sir Stanley Unwin as Chairman of George Allen & Unwin Ltd in 1968. But before he became a publisher, towards the end of the Second World War, he served on tank landing ships in the Far East. His experience of life in the navy sparked a life-long interest in seafaring, inspiring two of the five books he was to later write, The Defeat of John Hawkins and A Winter away from Home. After the war he completed his degree at Oxford, going on to study English Literature as a Post Graduate at Harvard. As a publisher he edited many distinguished authors including Roald Dahl and JRR Tolkien with whom he developed a close friendship. He retired from book publishing in 1990 when Allen & Unwin was taken over by HarperCollins. He died in 2000.