Ian Fleming’s classic Bond novels have been re-worded to remove racist material
IAN Fleming’s James Bond novels have been re-worded to remove racial references.
Every 007 book is to be re-issued this spring to mark 70 years since the spy appeared.
But a woke disclaimer will read: “This book was written at a time when terms and attitudes which might be considered offensive by modern readers were commonplace.
“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.”
The changes result in some depictions of black people being reworked or removed.
But dated references to other ethnicities, including Bond’s racial terms for Asian people, remain.
His comments about “blithering women” and homosexuality being a “stubborn disability” are also kept.
Ian Fleming Publications, the firm that owns the literary rights to the author’s work, commissioned a review by sensitivity readers of the classic texts under its control.
The N-word, which Fleming used to refer to black people when he was writing in the 1950s and ’60s, has been almost entirely expunged, the Telegraph reports.
Ian Fleming Publications said: “We encourage people to read the books for themselves when the new paperbacks are published.”
It comes after passages from Roald Dahl’s books were purged by children’s publisher Puffin.