George Allen and Unwin
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| Founded | 1914 (British arm) 1976 (Australia) |
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| Founder | Stanley Unwin |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Headquarters location | Crows Nest, New South Wales |
| Publication types | Books |
| Official website | allenandunwin |
Allen & Unwin is an Australian independent publishing company, established in Australia in 1976 as a subsidiary of the British firm George Allen & Unwin Ltd., which was founded by Sir Stanley Unwin in August 1914 and went on to become one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century.
George Allen and Sons was established in 1871 by George Allen, with the backing of John Ruskin, becoming George Allen and Unwin in 1914 as a result of Stanley Unwin's purchase of a controlling interest. Unwin's son Rayner S. Unwin and nephew Philip helped run the company, which published the works of Bertrand Russell, Arthur Waley, Roald Dahl and Thor Heyerdal. It became well known as J. R. R. Tolkien's publisher, some time after publishing the popular children's fantasy novel The Hobbit in 1937, and its high fantasy sequel The Lord of the Rings novel in 1954–1955.
Rayner Unwin retired at the end of 1985, and the firm was amalgamated in 1986 with Bell & Hyman to form "Unwin Hyman Limited". Robin Hyman became chief executive of the combined Unwin Hyman. From this time Allen & Unwin was an Australia-based, child company of Unwin Hyman. Rayner Unwin returned for a while as part-time chairman of Unwin Hyman, retiring again at the end of 1988. It was over the objections of largest shareholder Unwin that Hyman sold the firm to HarperCollins. HarperCollins has since sold Unwin Hyman's academic book list to Routledge.
Allen & Unwin Australia Pty Ltd became independent in July 1990 by means of a management buy-out when the UK firm was bought by HarperCollins. Now known simply as "Allen & Unwin" the company went on to become the most successful "independent" in Australia and currently publishes up to 250 new titles a year.
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