- Paperback: 512 pages
- Publisher: Penguin; paperback / softback edition (4 May 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0141015969
- ISBN-13: 978-0141015965
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 3.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 279,717 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Penguin Special: The Life and Times of Allen Lane
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
By founding Penguin books and popularizing the paperback, Allen Lane not only changed publishing in Britain, he was also at the forefront of a social and cultural revolution that saw the masses given access to what had previously been the preserve of a wealthy few.
In Penguin Special Jeremy Lewis brings this extraordinary era brilliantly to life, recounting how Lane came to launch his Penguins for the price of a packet of cigarettes; how they became enormously influential in alerting the public to the threat of Nazi Germany; and how Penguin itself gradually became a national institution, like the BBC and the NHS, whilst at the same time challenging the status quo through the famous Lady Chatterley case. Above all, it is the story of how one often fallible, complex man used his vision to change the world.
'Lewis's book is a triumph ... a rich and humorous history of 20th century reading habits, Penguin Special will not be surpassed' MAIL ON SUNDAY
'A word of warning: the enjoyable swiftness of Jeremy Lewis's prose can seduce the reader into going too fast, but savour this book slowly, don't gobble it up. It is so richly stuffed with facts, people, perceptions and atmosphere that you may get indigestion if you do not allow it the time it deserves' Diana Athill, LITERARY REVIEW
About the Author
Jeremy Lewis worked as a publisher for ten years, and was deputy editor of the London Magazine from 1990 to 1994. He has previously written two volumes of autobiography, Playing for Time and Kindred Spirits, and a biography of Cyril Connolly.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I enjoyed this book very much. It is the story of how a man, Allen Lane, looked over the terrible books on offer at a train station one Sunday and decided that inexpensive, high quality books should be widely available. From that decision came Penguin Books, which revolutionized publishing -- and reading. Penguin grew astonishingly fast and made new types of books available -- architecture, mythology, religion, as well as new and reprinted fiction.
Lane was an unusual man to lead this revolution. He was famously loathe to make hard decisions, avoided direct confrontations, and spent as much time focused on his farm as on his firm.
The book vividly brings to life a long-disappeared way of life. The poverty of Britain at the time of Penguin's founding, the personal dedication of people to the firm despite poor pay and conditions, and notorious eccentricities (e.g., the company once had a senior management meeting during an alcohol-fuelled rowing outing) all portray a world operating on far-different principles.
All in all, a well-written glimpse into the founder and founding of a company that changed publishing forever.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a fascinating book, pacy and well-structured, and will appeal to anyone interested in 20th century British publishing and cultural history. Lane himself remains unknowable, enigmatic and perhaps more than a little dull; no matter, the book's strengths lie in its study of Lane's "times" rather than his "life", and the cast of supporting characters -- business rivals, colleagues, writers -- for the most part carries the narrative briskly along. It's also strong, and always interesting, on British reading habits and the processes specific to paperback publishing.
If I have a criticism of the book, it's that the 1960s, Lane's final decade and a key one for Penguin and British publishing, are rather glossed over in favour of a continuing focus on the man. I guess I would have liked a bit more on Penguin's position in 60s Britain, culturally and visually (a few colour plates of 60s titles would have been welcome, given that the whole approach to Penguin design was the defining issue for Lane and other members of the "old guard" at the time).
Recommended.
If I have a criticism of the book, it's that the 1960s, Lane's final decade and a key one for Penguin and British publishing, are rather glossed over in favour of a continuing focus on the man. I guess I would have liked a bit more on Penguin's position in 60s Britain, culturally and visually (a few colour plates of 60s titles would have been welcome, given that the whole approach to Penguin design was the defining issue for Lane and other members of the "old guard" at the time).
Recommended.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
If you ever really wondered about the history of Penguin Publishing, this is the book you'll want to read!
28 Sep 2009
Format:Hardcover
He was the type of boy no one took particular notice of. Academically he was a dud. Athletics was definitely not his calling. He was nondescript in every way and if he were to graduate high school in this day and age he would most likely be the young man voted least likely to succeed. Allen Lane Williams was a boy of little promise, but upon leaving school at the age of sixteen his life would change forever. In deference to his Uncle John, owner of the Bodley Head, a renown publishing company in London, the family surname was changed to Lane. Allen Lane Williams Lane was going to start at the bottom, a fact in which he later would be ultimately proud of, and join the firm. In a PENGUIN SPECIAL: The Story of Allen Lane, the Founder of Penguin Books and the Man Who Changed Publishing Forever, Jeremy Lewis relates the story of a humble boy who would eventually change and challenge the face of the book world. He would be the dud turned dynamo.
Allen's Uncle John had great appreciation for those who learned the ropes from the ground up and his nephew fit the bill. Starting at the very bottom rung in the firm, he came to know the business well and when his uncle passed away he quickly stepped forward to claim his inheritance, an inheritance of not only the company, Bodley Head, but a wealth of publishing and business acumen. With the eventual demise of the family business, Lane quickly founded Penguin Books, a company that was said to be the "publishing phenomenon of the decade, if not the century."
Lane was ruthless, shrewd and came to know his business, seemingly better than any predecessor or peer. No one stood in his way when it came to a good business deal, not even his own brother. His axe made little distinction, but then again he was known for impetuous acts of generosity. Penguin, the name soon synonymous with the work `paperback,' was as cheap as a pack of cigarettes and catapulted the young Allen Lane to the top of the publishing world. He instinctively knew a good book when he saw one. It was an amazing feat for one, whom many claimed, never even turned the page of a book, let alone finished one. Toward the end of his life Lane himself claimed, "I'm not a very intelligent man, and I've really got away with murder."
I would not go so far to claim this book is riveting, invaluable or fascinating as the advance praise blurbs claimed for this book, but I did find it fairly interesting as I'm a huge Penguin fan. It amazed me that a man such as Allen Lane has been swept into obscurity, as his "book," the Penguin, appears destined for immortality. Jeremy Lewis did a marvelous job of researching and writing this book, but I believe that the reader would need to be firmly interested in publishing history and/or Penguin Books to enjoy it.
Allen's Uncle John had great appreciation for those who learned the ropes from the ground up and his nephew fit the bill. Starting at the very bottom rung in the firm, he came to know the business well and when his uncle passed away he quickly stepped forward to claim his inheritance, an inheritance of not only the company, Bodley Head, but a wealth of publishing and business acumen. With the eventual demise of the family business, Lane quickly founded Penguin Books, a company that was said to be the "publishing phenomenon of the decade, if not the century."
Lane was ruthless, shrewd and came to know his business, seemingly better than any predecessor or peer. No one stood in his way when it came to a good business deal, not even his own brother. His axe made little distinction, but then again he was known for impetuous acts of generosity. Penguin, the name soon synonymous with the work `paperback,' was as cheap as a pack of cigarettes and catapulted the young Allen Lane to the top of the publishing world. He instinctively knew a good book when he saw one. It was an amazing feat for one, whom many claimed, never even turned the page of a book, let alone finished one. Toward the end of his life Lane himself claimed, "I'm not a very intelligent man, and I've really got away with murder."
I would not go so far to claim this book is riveting, invaluable or fascinating as the advance praise blurbs claimed for this book, but I did find it fairly interesting as I'm a huge Penguin fan. It amazed me that a man such as Allen Lane has been swept into obscurity, as his "book," the Penguin, appears destined for immortality. Jeremy Lewis did a marvelous job of researching and writing this book, but I believe that the reader would need to be firmly interested in publishing history and/or Penguin Books to enjoy it.
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