Allan Wingate was founded by Andre Deutsch in 1944, who plucked the name for the publishing firm out of the air. Deutsch directed the business until 1950, when he was forced out of the business, and started the publishing company for which he was better known, Andre Deutsch Limited. While Deutsch was at Allan Wingate the firm had success with the publication of Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead and the work of satirist George Mikes. Allan Wingate went into receivership in 1959 and was purchased by William Kimber; in 1960 it became a subsidiary of Hamlyn's Books for Pleasure Group. The company continued as Allan Wingate (Publishers) Limited into the 1970s under American directors Peter Abramson and David Rowan, and by 1976 had become a division of W. H. Allen. The imprint was discontinued around 1984.
