Michael Joseph, our founder, was already a bestselling author before he turned publisher in 1935 – the same year Penguin paperbacks arrived. He loved authors. In particular, Michael Joseph loved guiding them towards commercial success, bringing their brilliant stories to the wider world. In 1985, exactly half a century after their mutual founding, Michael Joseph became the commercial imprint of Penguin Books. Our founder’s legacy – the nurturing of writers and making of bestsellers – remains proudly in our blood to this day.