T. E. Lawrence, The Mint

PLEASE READ THIS NOTE

T. E. Lawrence's second major work, The Mint, contains some of his finest writing. The first two parts describe his experiences during the RAF recruits' training course in 1922, while the third part describes service life at Cranwell in 1925-6.

Among other things, some of his descriptions record - by common agreement accurately - the barrack-room language used by his fellow servicemen. Lawrence stipulated that the book should not be published until, at least, 1950. In 1955, when The Mint was first published in England, it appeared in two versions - a limited edition containing the full text, and an expurgated trade edition. More recent English editions, including the one available for some years in the 'Penguin Modern Classics' series, contained the full text. In America, only the full text was ever published.

Few people in Britain or America would now be unduly shocked by 1920s barrack-room language. However, the Internet is available to English-speakers from many cultures, to some of which it might still be offensive. I have therefore decided to offer visitors to this site a choice between the two texts published in Britain in 1955: the full text and the expurgated text. Please read the version you are likely to feel most comfortable with:

The expurgated text, without barrack-room language

The full text, which some readers might find offensive