List of banned books
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Many societies have banned certain books. This is a partial list of books which have been banned.
Various scriptures have been banned (and sometimes burned) at several points in history. The Bible, the Qur'an, and other religious scriptures have all been subjected to censorship and have been banned in various cities and countries. In Medieval Europe, the Roman Catholic Church created a program that lasted until 1966 to deal with dissenting printed opinion; it was called the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (index of prohibited books). Over the years many books based on the scriptures have also been banned, such as Leo Tolstoy's The Kingdom of God is Within You, which was banned in Russia for being anti-establishment.
Books deemed critical of the state or its interests are another common target for banning.
Books that deal with criminal matter have also been subjected to censorship. Small-press titles that have become infamous by being banned include The Anarchist Cookbook, E for Ecstasy[citation needed], and Hit Man.
In the four-volume series Banned Books,[1] the volumes were divided by grounds for banning: political, religious, sexual and social. The first three are often cited together as taboo in polite conversation.
Notably, children's books that deal with death or other teenage angst or various crimes often find themselves banned perhaps because of parental worries about teenage suicide or copycat crimes. Many publications are targeted on the premise that children would be corrupted by reading them. This fear led to the creation of the Comics Code Authority in 1954.
Contents |
[edit] List of banned books
[edit] A
Title | Author | Type of Literature | Reason |
---|---|---|---|
All Quiet on the Western Front | Erich Maria Remarque | Anti-war novel | Banned in Nazi Germany for demoralizing and insulting the Wehrmacht.[2] |
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn | Mark Twain | Children’s/Adventure novel | Banned in 1885 in the Concord, Massachusetts library for being what the Public Library Committee called "trash."[citation needed] |
Andersonville (novel) | MacKinlay Kantor | Novel | Banned in many places in the United States for obscenities and for promoting immorality. [3] |
Animal Farm | George Orwell | Political novella | Publication delayed in UK because of anti-Stalin theme. Confiscated in Germany by Allied troops. Banned in 1946 in Yugoslavia. Also banned in Kenya in 1991 and in the United Arab Emirates in 2002.[4] |
Areopagitica | John Milton | Essay | Banned in England for political reasons.[5] |
As I Lay Dying | William Faulkner | Novel | Banned in Kentucky for language and for being anti-Christian. [6] |
The Anarchist Cookbook | William Powell | Guide book | Banned in the US for security reasons, as the book contains recipes for numerous explosives. Sale of the book is prohibited to any one under 21 in some areas.[citation needed] |
Angaray | Sajjad Zaheer | Progressive short stories | Banned in 1936 by the British government[citation needed] |
[edit] B
Title | Author | Type of Literature | Reason |
---|---|---|---|
Bhavsagar Granth | Baba Bhaniara | Religious text | Banned in Punjab, India because it is deemed heretical by orthodox Sikhs.[citation needed] |
Bible | Various authors | Religious text | Many translations of The Bible were banned by the Index Librorum Prohibitorum in the Catholic Church.
Banned in the USSR for antireligious reasons.[citation needed] |
Biko | Donald Woods | Biography | Banned in South Africa for its criticism of the apartheid system and white government.[citation needed] |
Black Beauty | Anna Sewell | Novel | Was banned in South Africa in 1955 because of the use of the word 'black' in the title.[7] |
Black Boy | Richard Wright | Novel | Banned in Mississippi; California; Nashua, NH; Island Trees, NY for being Anti-Catholic, Anti-Semitic, Anti-Christian and obscene.[8] |
The Blue Lotus | Hergé | Graphic novel | Banned in China for its pro-Kuomintang view and support.[citation needed] |
The Book of One Thousand and One Nights | Collection | Banned in many primarily Muslim countries for promoting non-Muslim faith[citation needed] | |
Bridge to Terabithia | Katherine Paterson | Novel | Previously banned in the US for its offensive language and depictions of the occult.[citation needed] |
Burger's Daughter | Nadine Gordimer | Novel | Banned in South Africa in 1979 for going against the government's racial policies. [9] |
[edit] C
Title | Author | Type of Literature | Reason |
---|---|---|---|
The Catcher in the Rye | J.D. Salinger | Novel | Banned in various parts of the U.S. for language and sexual content. Also challenged and removed from several schools because the main character exhibits behavior deemed "inappropriate".[10] |
Call of the Wild | Jack London | Novel | Banned in Yugoslavia, Italy, and burned in Nazi bonfires.[11] |
Candide | Voltaire | Novel | Seized by US Customs in 1930 for obscenity.[11] |
Civil Disobedience | Henry David Thoreau | Essay | Removed from US libraries during McCarthyism. Banned in South Africa[citation needed] |
The Communist Manifesto | Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels | Economic treatise | Banned in anti-Communist countries and the US during the Red Scare. Challenged in libraries for political reasons.[citation needed] |
Comentarios Reales de los Incas | Inca Garcilaso de la Vega | History of the Inca Empire and its conquest by the Spanish | Published in Spain by the son of Spanish conquistador and an Inca princess, its publication in Lima was forbidden by Carlos III of Spain during the uprising led by Tupac Amaru II, and was only published again in the Americas in 1918.[citation needed] |
Confessions of Augsburg | Martin Luther | The ideas of Luther and Lutheranism | Published in Germany, outlawed by the Vatican, though specifically the Council of Trent (1545-1563)[citation needed] |
[edit] D
Title | Author | Type of Literature | Reason |
---|---|---|---|
Dakar - The story of the Israeli submarine unit | Mike Eldar, Captain Navy | Israeli Navy History | The book was banned in 1997 by a district court, due to an alleged charge according to the "Official Secret Act" following the ban of Eldar's previous book "Flotilla 11" regardless the fact it had been approved by the Israeli military censor and despite the fact that over 2000 copies had been sold. Eldar was accused of "espionage", his home was searched, his website was shut down and his computer and documents were confiscated. Following a 4-year legal struggle, the book was released and all charges against Eldar were dropped.[citation needed] |
The Death of Lorca | Ian Gibson | Biography, True crime | Banned briefly in Spain. [2] |
Decent Interval | Frank Snepp | Nonfiction | Banned in the US because the author had published material that, as a former CIA employee, he was not allowed to publish. [12] |
Did 6 Million Really Die? | Richard Harwood | Holocaust denial | Previously banned in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, and most of mainland Europe, Germany and Austria in particular, for Holocaust denial.[citation needed] |
Doctor Zhivago | Boris Pasternak | Novel | Banned within the USSR until 1988 for its criticism of the Bolshevik Party. [13] |
[edit] E
Title | Author | Type of Literature | Reason |
---|---|---|---|
El Senor Presidente | Miguel Angel Asturias | Novel | Banned in Guatemala because it went against the ruling political leaders. [14] |
[edit] F
Title | Author | Type of Literature | Reason |
---|---|---|---|
Freedom Writers Diary | The Freedom Writers | Nonfiction | Banned in Perry Township, Indiana, for sexual content and racial slurs.[15] |
The Fugitive (Perburuan) | Pramoedya Ananta Toer | Novel | Banned in Indonesia for being too communistic and for other political reasons. [16] |
Flotilla 11 - The battle for citation | Mike Eldar, Navy Captain | Israeli navy history | The book was banned in 1997 by a government book committee acting under the "Official Secret Act" after it had been approved by the Israeli military censor and regardless of the fact that about 500 books had been sold. The book was republished in 2002 with no changes.[citation needed] |
Flowers For Algernon | Daniel Keyes | Novel | Banned in Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, and challenged in Ohio and Wyoming.[citation needed] |
For Whom the Bell Tolls | Ernest Hemingway | Novel | Banned in Spain during Francisco Franco's rule for its pro-Republican views.[citation needed] |
Fahrenheit 451 | Ray Bradbury | Fiction | Banned in some US schools for being interpreted as critical of state-sponsored censorship.[citation needed] |
Final Exit | Derek Humphry | Self-help Book | Banned by law in France.[citation needed] |
[edit] G
Title | Author | Type of Literature | Reason |
---|---|---|---|
The Giver | Lois Lowry | Novel | Banned from some schools in Kansas and California; restricted at schools in several other U.S. states. The book addresses many controversial themes including euthanasia.[17] |
The God of Small Things | Arundhati Roy | Novel | Written in 1996, claimed to be portraying intereligion occasional sex scenes involving a Christian woman and low caste-Hindhu servant. Ban overturned in India.[18] |
The Grapes of Wrath | John Steinbeck | Novel | Banned in many places in the US. In the region of California in which it was set, it was banned because it made the residents of this region look bad.[19] |
The Gulag Archipelago | Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn | Nonfiction | Banned in the Soviet Union because it went against the common way of thinking there.[20] |
The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments | Robert Brent | Textbook | Banned in the 1960s because the Chemistry experiments told as "simple" in the introduction of the book were simple but very dangerous.[citation needed] |
Go Ask Alice | Anonymous | Novel | Banned in many US states because it suggests the idea of anti-family and also banned because of its descriptions of drug-use and offensive language and concepts.[citation needed] |
[edit] H
Title | Author | Type of Literature | Reason |
---|---|---|---|
Harry Potter series | J.K. Rowling | Fiction- Fantasy | Banned in several schools in the United States and other countries due to supposed witchcraft .[citation needed] Complete Harry potter series includes books 1 through 7 have all been banned. |
[edit] I
Title | Author | Type of Literature | Reason |
---|
[edit] J
Title | Author | Type of Literature | Reason |
---|---|---|---|
Journal of Current Pictorial | Chinese Alliance | Manhua | Banned by China's Qing government for spreading anti-Qing propaganda.[citation needed] |
[edit] K
Title | Author | Type of Literature | Reason |
---|---|---|---|
Kaffir Boy | Mark Mathabane | Autobiography | Banned in a number of schools due to a controversial scene involving child prostitution and sodomy. As a result, Mathabane has authorized a revised version for use in such schools.[citation needed] |
Karlsson-on-the-Roof | Astrid Lindgren | Children's fantasy | Banned in North America for subversive views on babysitters[citation needed] |
Key of Solomon | Unknown | Grimoire/Magic | Banned in Europe by Pope Innocent VI 1350 (& burnt), and again in 1559 for being dangerous.[citation needed] |
The Kincora Scandal | Chris Moore | True crime | Banned in UK for alleging British cover up over Satanic Abuse.[citation needed] |
The King Never Smiles | Paul M. Handley | Biography | Banned in Thailand for its criticism of King Bhumibol Adulyadej[21] |
The Kingdom of God Is Within You | Leo Tolstoy | Religious treatise | Banned in Tzarist Russia for its Christian anarchist content.[citation needed] |
[edit] L
Title | Author | Type of Literature | Reason |
---|---|---|---|
Lady Chatterley's Lover | D. H. Lawrence | Novel | Temporarily banned in the United States and UK for violation of obscenity laws. Banned in Australia.[22] |
The Last Temptation of Christ | Nikos Kazantzakis | Religious novel | Banned for blasphemy and its portrayal of Jesus.[citation needed] |
Lajja | Taslima Nasrin | Novel | Banned in Bangladesh, and a few states of India for anti-Islamic sentiments. Apart from Lajja, Taslima's first four autobiographical volumes have also been banned in Bangladesh.[citation needed] |
The Lasting Scar | Andrew Osmond | Novel | Banned from publication in the UK.[citation needed] |
The Little Red Schoolbook | Soren Hansen and Jesper Jensen | Advocacy | |
The Lorax | Dr. Seuss | Children's book | Banned from schools in parts of the US for being an allegorical political commentary.[23] |
[edit] M
Title | Author | Type of Literature | Reason |
---|---|---|---|
Mein Kampf | Adolf Hitler | Political ideology | Banned due to anti-Nazi laws. However, possession and sale for historical reasons is legal in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands[citation needed]. |
The Malay Dilemma | Mahathir bin Mohamad | Political ideology | Banned in Malaysia for its criticism of UMNO and the May 13 Incident. But the ban was lifted when Dr. Mahathir himself was made the 4th Prime Minister of Malaysia.[citation needed] |
Mephisto | Klaus Mann | Political novel / Satire | In 1968, Gustaf Gründgens' adopted son Peter Gorski sued Nymphenburger Verlagsbuchhandlung, then the publisher of Mephisto in West Germany. The Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that Gründgens' personal freedom (Article 2 of the Basic Law) was more important than the freedom of art (Article 5).[citation needed] |
Mirror of the Polish Crown | Sebastian Miczyński | Anti-Semitic pamphlet | Because this pamphlet published in 1618 was one of the causes of the anti-Jewish riots in Cracow it was banned by Sigismund III Vasa[citation needed] |
The Moon is Down | John Steinbeck | Political novel | Banned in Nazi Germany and Nazi-occupied countries during World War II. Distributed Illegally by various resistance movements.[citation needed] |
The Mountain Wreath | Petar II Petrović Njegoš | Drama in verse | Banned in Bosnia schools by Carlos Westendorp.[24] |
[edit] N
Title | Author | Type of Literature | Reason |
---|---|---|---|
Notre ami le roi | Gilles Perrault | Biography of Hassan II of Morocco | Banned in Morocco for political reasons.[25] |
Native Son | Richard Wright | Novel | Banned in the USA for sexually graphic and violent content.[26] |
[edit] O
Title | Author | Type of Literature | Reason |
---|---|---|---|
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich | Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn | Novel | Banned in the USSR for political reasons. Author was sent into exile.[citation needed] |
On the Origins and Perpetual Use of the Legislative Powers of the Apostolic Kings of Hungary in Matters Ecclesiastical. | Adam F. Kollár | Legal-political | Banned by the Vatican in 1514 for arguments against the political role of the Roman Catholic Church.[27] Original title: De Originibus et Usu perpetuo. |
[edit] P
Title | Author | Type of Literature | Reason |
---|---|---|---|
The Peaceful Pill Handbook | Philip Nitschke and Fiona Stewart | Instructional manual on euthanasia | It was initially banned in New Zealand by Office of Film & Literature Classification since it was deemed to be objectionable.[28] In May 2008 it was allowed for sale if sealed and an indication of the censorship classification was displayed.[29] |
[edit] Q
Title | Author | Type of Literature | Reason |
---|---|---|---|
Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong | Mao Zedong | Collection | Banned in South Vietnam and anti-Communist nations in Asia.[citation needed] |
[edit] R
Title | Author | Type of Literature | Reason |
---|---|---|---|
The Radsters | Anonymous author | Self Help | Banned in Australia as deemed excessively 'turgid'.[citation needed] |
Rights of Man | Thomas Paine | Political | Banned in the UK and author charged with treason for supporting the French Revolution.[11] Banned in Tzarist Russia after the Decembrist revolt. |
Rangila Rasul | Pt. Chamupati | Religious | Currently banned in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.[30] |
[edit] S
Title | Author | Type of Literature | Reason |
---|---|---|---|
Si, Somos Lesbianas | Maria Fuentes-Perez | Novel | Banned in Cuba for homosexual content.[citation needed] |
The Satanic Verses | Salman Rushdie | Novel | Banned in India, Singapore,[31] and Iran for blasphemy. |
Shanghai Baby | Wei Hui | Novel (fictionalized memoir) | Forty thousand copies of Shanghai Baby were burned by the Chinese government. Rights were subsequently sold in 19 countries. 200,000 copies are in print in Japan alone.[citation needed] |
A Series of Unfortunate Events (Series) | Daniel Handler, Pen-name: Lemony Snicket | Realistic Fiction | Banned in Decatur, Georgia because of objections to the suggested incest in The Bad Beginning and use of the word "damn" in The Reptile Room.[citation needed] |
Soft Target: How Indian Intelligence Service Penetrated Canada | Zuhair Kashmeri & Brian McAndrew | Investigative Journalism | Banned in India.[32] |
Spycatcher | Peter Wright | Autobiography | Banned in UK 1985-1988 for revealing secrets. Wright was a former MI5 intelligence officer and his book was banned before it was even published in 1987.[33][34] |
Steal This Book | Abbie Hoffman | How-To Book | Banned in the U.S. until the late 1980's. This book was highly controversial because of its anti-government views.[citation needed] |
Suicide mode d'emploi | Claude Guillon | Essay | This book, reviewing all the accessible recipes for committing suicide, was cause of a great scandal in France in the 1970's and the subject of a law edicted in the French parliament which forbids not only this book to be sold in France but any medium giving tips or recipes on the way to kill oneself.[citation needed] |
Sex | Madonna | Photographic collection | Banned in Japan a week after it was released.[citation needed] |
[edit] T
Title | Author | Type of Literature | Reason |
---|---|---|---|
Thalia | Arius | Songbook | Banned in the Roman Empire in the 330s+ for contradicting Trinitarianism. All of Arius writings were ordered burned and Arius exiled, and presumably assassinated for his writings.[35] banned by the Catholic Church for the next thousand plus years.[citation needed] |
Tropic of Cancer | Henry Miller | Novel (fictionalized memoir) | Banned in the US in the 1930s until the early 1960s, seized by US customs for sexually explicit content and vulgarity. The rest of Miller's work was also banned by the United States.[36] Also banned in South Africa until the late 1980s. |
The Turner Diaries | William Luther Pierce | Novel | Book stores and libraries refuse to distribute it because of its racist theme.[37] Banned in Germany for its Nazi ideology theme and Pierce leadership in the American Nazi Party. Blamed for a number of crimes allegedly inspired by the novel.[38] |
[edit] U
Title | Author | Type of Literature | Reason |
---|---|---|---|
Ulysses | James Joyce | Novel | Challenged and temporarily banned in the US for its sexual content. Ban overturned in United States v. One Book Called Ulysses. |
Uncle Tom's Cabin | Harriet Beecher Stowe | Novel | Banned in the Southern States and Tzarist Russia. Challenged by the NAACP for allegedly racist portrayal of African Americans and the use of the word nigger.[39] |
United States-Vietnam Relations: 1945-1967 | Robert McNamara and the United States Department of Defense | Government Study | President Nixon attempted to suspend publication of classified information. See: New York Times Co. v. United States |
[edit] V
Title | Author | Type of Literature | Reason |
---|
[edit] W
Title | Author | Type of Literature | Reason |
---|---|---|---|
We | Yevgeny Zamyatin | Sci-fi novel | Banned in the USSR for political reasons.[citation needed] |
The Wealth of Nations | Adam Smith | Economic treatise | Banned in communist nations[citation needed] for its capitalist content.[40] |
The Well of Loneliness | Radclyffe Hall | Novel | Banned in the UK in 1928 for its lesbian theme, republished in 1949.[41] |
Wild Swans | Jung Chang | Novel | Banned in China for political reasons.[citation needed] |
Winds of Change | Reza Pahlavi | Political science | Banned in Iran for political reasons.[citation needed] |
[edit] X
Title | Author | Type of Literature | Reason |
---|
[edit] Y
Title | Author | Type of Literature | Reason |
---|
[edit] Z
Title | Author | Type of Literature | Reason |
---|---|---|---|
Zweites Buch | Adolf Hitler | Transcript | Possession and sale is illegal in Germany and Austria because of Nazi content.[citation needed] |
Zhuan Falun | Li Hongzhi | Spiritual | Banned as part of the persecution of Falun Gong, which began in 1999. |
[edit] See also
- Areopagitica: A speech of Mr John Milton for the liberty of unlicensed printing to the Parliament of England
- Banned films
- Book burning
- Censorship
- The Roman Catholic Church Index Librorum Prohibitorum
- International Freedom of Expression Exchange
- List of banned authors during the Third Reich
- List of banned writers
- List of controversial books
- List of most commonly challenged books in the U.S.
[edit] References
- ^ Wachsterber, Ken (2006). Banned Books 4 Book Set. Facts on File. ISBN 0816067791.
- ^ Grannis, Chandler B.; Haight, Anne (Lyon) (1978). Banned books, 387 B. C. to 1978 A. D. New York: R. R. Bowker, 80. ISBN 0-8352-1078-2.
- ^ Karolides, Nicholas J.; Bald, Margaret; Sova, Dawn B. (2005). 120 Banned Books. New York: Checkmark Books, 8-12. ISBN 0-8160-6043-6.
- ^ Karolides et al, p. 13-16
- ^ Karolides et al, p. 16-20
- ^ Noble, William (1990). Bookbanning in America: Who Bans Books? - And Why. Middlebury, VT: Paul S. Eriksson, 6-8. ISBN 0-8397-1080-1.
- ^ Why Were These Books Banned?.
- ^ Kean, John M.; Karolides, Nicholas J.; Burress, Lee (2001). Censored books: critical viewpoints. Metuchen, N.J: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-4038-3.
- ^ Karolides et al, p. 29-32
- ^ Forbidden Library.
- ^ a b c Banned Books Online.
- ^ Karolides et al, p. 33-40
- ^ Karolides et al, p. 40-45
- ^ Karolides et al, p. 45-50
- ^ "Teacher suspended over controversial book". www.msnbc.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-26.
- ^ Karolides et al, p. 50-57
- ^ [http://www.northern.edu/hastingw/Giver.html a brief overview of schools which have addressed complaints about The giver
- ^ Top 10 "Obscene" Literary Classics.
- ^ Karolides et al, p 57-71
- ^ Karolides et al, p 71-78
- ^ Warrick-Alexander, James (February 06, 2006). Thailand Bars Univ. Website. Yale Daily News.
- ^ Cleland, John; Rembar, Charles; Miller, Henry (1986). The end of obscenity: the trials of Lady Chatterley, Tropic of cancer, and Fanny Hill. San Francisco: Harper & Row. ISBN 0-06-097061-8.
- ^ Why Were These Books Banned? - The Lorax.
- ^ New World Order's Inquisition in Bosnia.
- ^ Notre ami le roi par Gilles Perrault
- ^ [1]
- ^ Andor Csizmadia, Adam Franz Kollár und die ungarische rechtshistorische Forschung. 1982.
- ^ Office of Film & Literature Classification - "The Peaceful Pill Handbook banned"
- ^ http://www.censorship.govt.nz/pdfword/peaceful%20pill%20s38.pdf Office of Film & Literature Classification
- ^ Self and Sovereignty: Individual and Community in South Asian Islam Since 1850 by Ayesha Jalal
- ^ "Singapore will not Allow Publication of Prophet Cartoons", Bloomberg.com, 2006-02-10. Retrieved on 2007-06-14.
- ^ Amazon Soft Target Book listing. Retrieved on 2007-12-19.
- ^ Zuckerman, Laurence (1987-08-17). How Not to Silence a Spy. Time. Time Warner. Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
- ^ 1987: Ban lifted on MI5 man's memoirs
- ^ Edict Against Arius (333).
- ^ From Henry Miller to Howard Stern, by Patti Davis, Newsweek, March, 2004
- ^ Extremism in America.
- ^ 'Turner Diaries' introduced in McVeigh trial.
- ^ Stowe Debate.
- ^ An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- ^ Smith, David. "Lesbian novel was 'danger to nation'", The Observer, 2005-01-02. Retrieved on 2006-10-09.
[edit] External links
- www.bannedmagazine.com, the journal of censorship and secrecy
- List of books challenged in Canada
- Minneapolis Public Library: Banned Books Week
- The most frequently banned books in the early 1990s
- HarperCollins books that have been challenged
- Judy Blume talks about censorship
- Original stories by censored writers
- Fahrenheit 451 Banned Book Blog: comprehensive list of links
- Banned cartoons
- Timeline of banned books in the United States
- Links related to Banned Books Week and book burning
- Banned books online
- Banned Books and Censorship: Information and Resources
- The Forbidden Library: Banned and Challenged Books
- Castro and the ACLU v Miami's Book 'Ban', by Humberto Fontova, author of "Fidel: Hollywood's Favorite Tyrant", 8 August 2006
- American Library Association's list of 100 most frequently challenged books (1990–2000)