I’m reading “Diamonds Are Forever” by that fascinating, flawed, contemptible and vulnerable Ian Fleming, in which a fascinating, flawed, contemptible and vulnerable James Bond goes to the horse racing at Saratoga Springs. The book’s from 1960 and it shows.

Bond had a natural affection for coloured people, but he reflected how lucky England was compared with America where you had to live with the colour problem from your schooldays up. He smiled as he remembered something Felix Leiter had said to him on their last assignment together in America. Bond had referred to Mr. Big, the famous Harlem criminal, as “that damned nigger.” Leiter had picked him up. “Careful now, James,” he had said. “People are so damn sensitive about colour around here that you can’t even ask a barman for a jigger of rum. You have to ask for a jegro.”

The memory of Leiter’s wisecrack cheered Bond up.

I read this passage to Rachael, who was amazed that this hadn’t been edited out and sanitized. But we discussed it and we decided we were glad it hadn’t, as it’s important to have a record of how far we’ve come. She expressed regret at the PCifying of children’s literature (her favourite Faraway Tree books now star Rick and Frannie, not Dick and Fanny). I said yes, it’s sad, because it’s akin to Orwell’s nuspeak and it stops you having a healthy debate about racial prejudice and harmony. Like ‘dusky gypsies’ from the Famous Five, and - was it in the Secret Seven? - the very early edition that had a character called Auntie Cunt.

To be fair, it was early in the morning, but nonetheless, I did expect her to catch me on that one.