diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c55e631..6a677af 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -452,6 +452,7 @@ A line must have at least two points.
 Because of the similarities between polygon and line types it is possible to create
 a line shape using either the "line" or "poly" method.
 	
+	
 	>>> w = shapefile.Writer()
 	
     >>> w.line(parts=[[[1,5],[5,5],[5,1],[3,3],[1,1]]])
@@ -546,14 +547,12 @@ To store very large numbers you must increase the field length size to the total
     >>> w.save('shapefiles/test/dtype')
 	
 	>>> r = shapefile.Reader('shapefiles/test/dtype')
-	>>> r.record(0)
-	[1, 1.32, 1.3217328, -3.2302e-25, 1.3217328, 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000L]
-	>>> r.record(1)
-	[None, None, None, None, None, None]
+	>>> assert r.record(0) == [1, 1.32, 1.3217328, -3.2302e-25, 1.3217328, 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000]
+	>>> assert r.record(1) == [None, None, None, None, None, None]
 
 	
 Finally, we can create boolean fields by setting the type to 'L'. 
-This field can take True or False values, or any string whose first character is one of YyTt (True) or NnFf (False). 
+This field can take True or False values, or 1 (True) or 0 (False). 
 None is interpreted as missing. 
 
 
@@ -565,22 +564,30 @@ None is interpreted as missing.
 	>>> w.null()
 	>>> w.null()
     >>> w.record(True)
-	>>> w.record("Yes")
+	>>> w.record(1)
 	>>> w.record(False)
-	>>> w.record("No")
+	>>> w.record(0)
 	>>> w.record(None)
+	>>> w.record("Nonesense")
     >>> w.save('shapefiles/test/dtype')
 	
 	>>> r = shapefile.Reader('shapefiles/test/dtype')
-	>>> assert r.record(0) == [True]
-	>>> assert r.record(1) == [True]
-	>>> assert r.record(2) == [False]
-	>>> assert r.record(3) == [False]
-	>>> assert r.record(4) == [None]
-	
+	>>> r.record(0)
+	[True]
+	>>> r.record(1)
+	[True]
+	>>> r.record(2)
+	[False]
+	>>> r.record(3)
+	[False]
+	>>> r.record(4)
+	[None]
+	>>> r.record(5)
+	[None]
 	
 You can also add attributes using keyword arguments where the keys are field names.
 
+
 	>>> w = shapefile.Writer()
 	>>> w.field('FIRST_FLD','C','40')
 	>>> w.field('SECOND_FLD','C','40')
diff --git a/shapefile.py b/shapefile.py
index b034cc2..626f60d 100644
--- a/shapefile.py
+++ b/shapefile.py
@@ -516,7 +516,7 @@ def __record(self):
                     except ValueError:
                         #not parseable as int, set to None
                         value = None
-            elif typ == b('D'):
+            elif typ == 'D':
                 # date: 8 bytes - date stored as a string in the format YYYYMMDD.
                 if value.count(b('0')) == len(value):  # QGIS NULL is all '0' chars
                     value = None
@@ -526,9 +526,9 @@ def __record(self):
                         value = date(y, m, d)
                     except:
                         value = value.strip()
-            elif typ == b('L'):
+            elif typ == 'L':
                 # logical: 1 byte - initialized to 0x20 (space) otherwise T or F.
-                if value == " ":
+                if value == b(" "):
                     value = None # space means missing or not yet set
                 else:
                     if value in b('YyTt1'):
@@ -536,7 +536,7 @@ def __record(self):
                     elif value in b('NnFf0'):
                         value = False
                     else:
-                        value = b('?')
+                        value = None # unknown value is set to missing
             else:
                 # anything else is forced to string/unicode
                 value = u(value)
@@ -952,9 +952,13 @@ def __dbfRecords(self):
                 elif fieldType == 'L':
                     # logical: 1 byte - initialized to 0x20 (space) otherwise T or F.
                     if value in MISSING:
-                        value = str(' ') # missing is set to space
+                        value = b(' ') # missing is set to space
+                    elif value in [True,1]:
+                        value = b("T")
+                    elif value in [False,0]:
+                        value = b("F")
                     else:
-                        value = str(value)[0].upper()
+                        value = b(' ') # unknown is set to space
                 else:
                     # anything else is forced to string
                     value = str(value)[:size].ljust(size)
@@ -1116,6 +1120,7 @@ def save(self, target=None, shp=None, shx=None, dbf=None):
             self.dbf.close()
             if generated:
                 return target
+            
 class Editor(Writer):
     def __init__(self, shapefile=None, shapeType=POINT, autoBalance=1):
         self.autoBalance = autoBalance