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Children’s author threatened to strike if editors changed ‘a single comma’ of his writing and claimed ‘Marx and Lenin’ were responsible Roald Dahl threatened to never write another word if his publishers ever changed his language, promising to send his “Enormous Crocodile” to gobble them up if they did so. The writer’s fury at the prospect of publishers censoring his books has emerged in the wake of the row over Puffin altering several passages from his famous children’s stories. Dahl made his comments 40 years ago, in a recorded conversation with his friend Francis Bacon, the painter, in which he...

The French publishers of Roald Dahl on Tuesday (Feb 21) ruled out any changes to the late British author's translated books after reports that English editions were being rewritten for modern audiences. The Daily Telegraph said last week that publishers Puffin had made hundreds of changes to characters and language in Dahl's stories for children including making the diminutive Oompa-Loompas in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory gender-neutral and calling Augustus Gloop enormous rather than fat. Twit in The Twits is also no longer ugly, but beastly instead, while the Cloud-Men in James and the Giant Peach are now Cloud-People.

Augustus Gloop is no longer fat, Mrs Twit is no longer fearfully ugly, and the Oompa-Loompas have gone gender-neutral in new editions of Roald Dahl’s beloved stories. The publisher, Puffin, has made hundreds of changes to the original text, removing many of Dahl’s colourful descriptions and making his characters less grotesque. The review of Dahl’s language was undertaken to ensure that the books “can continue to be enjoyed by all today”, Puffin said. References to physical appearance have been heavily edited. The word “fat” has been removed from every book - Augustus Gloop in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory may...

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Roald Dahl's family has apologised for anti-Semitic comments made by the best-selling author, who died in 1990. A statement condemning Dahl's controversial comments, made in two interviews in 1983 and 1990, was published on his official website. SNIP "It is a shame that the estate has seen fit merely to apologise for Dahl's anti-Semitism rather than to use its substantial means to do anything about it," the spokesperson said.

So much of science fiction's core topics intersect with war, one way or the other. Rapid social change and technological innovation both get supercharged during wartime, and some of our greatest explorers are also warriors. So it's not surprising that many of science fiction's most well-known authors served in the military at some point — especially during the era when we had a compulsory draft. But how did serving in the military shape these writers' books? Here's a look at 15 of the authors who served in the armed forces, and how their work reflects that experience.