The original James Bond books from the 1950s and 1960s have been edited to remove racist terms
The new issues of Ian Fleming's famous novel series are set to be released in April to mark the 70th anniversary of Casino Royale, which was first published in spring 1953.
A disclaimer has been added to the books after a review by sensitivity readers. “This book was written at a time when terms and attitudes which might be considered offensive by modern readers were commonplace," it reads, as reported by The Telegraph. “A number of updates have been made in this edition, while keeping as close as possible to the original text and the period in which it is set."
Some of the most contentious phrases include “sweet tang of rape” and the idea that “blithering women” cannot do a “man’s work”. In the original version of 'Live and Let Die', which was first published in 1954, Fleming describes black people at a New York nightclub "panting and grunting like pigs". The amended passage now reads: “Bond could sense the electric tension in the room.”
Fleming's use of one racist word word has been replaced with terms such as “black person” and “black man”. In the original version of Live and Let Die, Bond comments that would-be African criminals in the gold and diamond trades are “pretty law-abiding chaps I should have thought, except when they’ve drunk too much”. The newly-approved test now has bond say that they are "pretty law-abiding chaps I should have thought".
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Ian Fleming Publications says that the changes to Live and Let Die were authorised by Fleming himself, who died in 1964. The publisher said: “Following Ian’s approach, we looked at the instances of several racial terms across the books and removed a number of individual words or else swapped them for terms that are more accepted today but in keeping with the period in which the books were written.
“We encourage people to read the books for themselves when the new paperbacks are published in April."
It comes after Puffin UK has announced the release of the Roald Dahl Classic Collection “to keep the author’s classic texts in print”, following criticism of recent editing of his work to remove potentially offensive language. Classic books from the much-loved but controversial children’s author have been rewritten to cater for the sensitivities of modern audiences.
The Roald Dahl Story Company and Puffin Books carried out a review of Dahl’s classics which led to the removal or rewriting of content deemed offensive – including references to weight, mental health, violence, gender and race.
But critics including acclaimed author Sir Salman Rushdie and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak later condemned the changes.
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