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Iris asked this question about And Then There Were None:
Does anyone have a copy of this book under the title Ten Little Indians? My mother said that when she read it in school that was the title it was printed under. Anyone know why they changed it?
Edward Iris, to be honest, most of the American editions of the BOOKS has been "And Then There Were None." That's the title of the book I read when I was in …moreIris, to be honest, most of the American editions of the BOOKS has been "And Then There Were None." That's the title of the book I read when I was in junior high school. "Ten Little Indians" has been alternate title for the book, but never the main one. I think the reason why so many people erroneously think that the "real" title is "Ten LIttle Indians" is because that was the name of the play based on the book, and also the title of most of the film adaptations.

So the title "And Then There Were None" isn't new---it's been around since the book was published in the United States in 1939 or 1940. What IS relatively new is that the estate of Agatha Christie recently changed the book in the early 2000's (don't know the exact date) to not only change the "Indian" references to "Soldiers", but also change the phrase "n----- in the woodpile" which occurs twice in the book. The play has also been changed to reflect this and most productions now use the title "And Then There Were None", although some use "Ten Little Soldiers."

Many non-English translations have kept the original title, although I don't think those translations use the equivalent of the English epithet---it's more along the lines of "Ten Little Negroes" or "Ten Little Blacks." Although I grew up with the rhyme being "Ten Little Indians", I have to ask myself---would most African-Americans be happy with the change from "n------" to "blacks."? Didn't think so. So why should native Americans be happy, too? I would be FURIOUS if this book were to go back to "Ten LIttle N------", but I would be a hypocrite to say that's wrong but "Ten Little Indians" is OK.(less)
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And Then There Were None
by Agatha Christie
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