> Yesterday I re-read in a history book the account of the US warship-building effort after Pearl Harbor. This led me to
recall the two books by Chester Himes which I had read, e.g. "If he hollers let him go". Himes worked in a shipyard at
that time (He also spent time in prison). His language graphically conveys the atmosphere. I don't think the books were
ever censored? Or do you know otherwise?

I can't honestly say wsieber, cos I've never heard of him but the censorship laws in Britain and Ireland are (were) extremely strict right up until the late '70s. Lady Chatterly's Lover was banned until the late '60s.

Roddy Doyle's Barrytown trilogy is full of colloquial Dublinese (as anyone who has seen The Commitments or The Snapper will attest) and because of their critical acclaim the whole language issue has been dropped when it comes to the printed word. It is still taboo to swear or curse on TV or radio. The changing attitudes in this country alone over the past twenty years have been astonishing to say the least.