Banned books are books or other printed works such as essays or plays which have been prohibited by law, or to which free access has been restricted by other means. The practice of banning books is a form of censorship, from political, legal, religious, moral, or commercial motives. This article lists notable banned books and works, giving a brief context for the reason that each book was prohibited. Banned books include fictional works such as novels, poems and plays and non-fiction works such as biographies and dictionaries.
Since there have been a large number of banned books, some publishers have sought out to publish these books. The best-known examples are the Parisian Obelisk Press, which published Henry Miller's sexually frank novel Tropic of Cancer , and Olympia Press, which published William Burroughs's Naked Lunch . Both of these, the work of father Jack Kahane and son Maurice Girodias, specialized in English-language books which were prohibited, at the time, in Great Britain and the United States. Ruedo ibérico , also located in Paris, specialized in books prohibited in Spain during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. Russian literature prohibited during the Soviet period was published outside of Russia.
Many countries throughout the world have their own methods of restricting access to books, although the prohibitions vary strikingly from one country to another.[ citation needed ]
Despite the opposition from the American Library Association (ALA), books continue to be banned by school and public libraries across the United States. This is usually the result of complaints from parents, who find particular books not appropriate for their children (e.g., books with graphical depictions of child sex, like Gender Queer: A Memoir ). In many libraries, including the British Library and the Library of Congress, erotic books are housed in separate collections in restricted access reading rooms. In some libraries, a special application may be needed to read certain books. [1] Libraries sometimes avoid purchasing controversial books, and the personal opinions of librarians have at times affected book selection.
The following list of countries includes historical states that no longer exist.
The distribution, promotion and translation of the Bible have been prohibited or impeded throughout its history. [2] Violators of Bible prohibitions have at times been punished by imprisonment, forced labor, banishment and execution, as well as the destruction or confiscation of the Bibles. Restrictions of the distribution and promotion of the Bible are ongoing in various jurisdictions.
Title | Author(s) | Year published.. | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Përbindëshi (The Monster) (1965) | Ismail Kadare | 1965–1990 | Novel | Banned for 25 years in Albania. [3] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lolita (1955) | Vladimir Nabokov | 1955 | Novel | Banned for being "obscene". [4] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Year Banned | Year Unbanned | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Decameron | Giovanni Boccaccio | 1353 | 1927 | 1936 | Story collection | Banned in Australia from 1927 to 1936 and from 1938 to 1973. [5] |
1938 | 1973 | |||||
The 120 Days of Sodom (1789) | Marquis de Sade | 1789 | 1957 | *Unknown* | Novel | Banned by the Australian Government in 1957 for obscenity. [6] |
Droll Stories | Honoré de Balzac | 1837 | 1901, 1928 | 1923, 1973 | Short stories | Banned for obscenity from 1901 to 1923 and 1928 to c.1973. [7] [8] |
The Straits Impregnable | Sydney Loch | 1916 | 1914 | *Unknown* | Fictionalised Autobiography | First edition published as a novel, second edition banned by the military censor in Australia under regulations of the War Precautions Act 1914. [9] |
Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928) | D. H. Lawrence | 1928 | 1929 | 1965 | Novel | Banned from 1929 to 1965. [10] [11] |
Rowena Goes Too Far (1931) | H. C. Asterley | 1931 | *Unknown* | *Unknown* | Novel | Banned in Australia because of customs belief that it "lacked sufficient claim to the literary to excuse the obscenity" [12] |
Brave New World | Aldous Huxley | 1932 | 1932 | 1937 | Novel | Banned in Australia from 1932 to 1937. [10] |
The Cautious Amorist | Norman Lindsay | 1932 | 1933 | 1953 | Novel | Banned in Australia from 1933 to 1953. [13] |
Age of Consent | Norman Lindsay | 1938 | 1938 | by 1939 | Novel | Banned in Australia, briefly, in 1938. [14] |
Forever Amber (1944) | Kathleen Winsor | 1944 | 1945 | *Unknown* | Novel | Banned by Australia in 1945 as "a collection of bawdiness, amounting to sex obsession." [15] [16] |
Borstal Boy | Brendan Behan | 1958 | 1958 | *Unknown* | Autobiographical novel | Banned shortly after its ban in Ireland in 1958. [17] |
Another Country | James Baldwin | 1962 | 1963 | 1966 | Novel | Banned in Australia by the Commonwealth Customs Department in February 1963. The Literature Censorship Board described it as "continually smeared with indecent, offensive and dirty epithets and allusions," but recommended that the book remain available to "the serious minded student or reader." The ban was lifted in May 1966. [18] |
Ecstasy and Me | Hedy Lamarr | 1966 | 1967 | 1973 | Autobiography | Banned in Australia from 1967 until 1973. [10] |
The World Is Full of Married Men (1968) | Jackie Collins | 1968 | 1968 | *Unknown* | Novel | Banned in Australia in 1968. [10] |
The Stud (1969) | Jackie Collins | 1969 | 1969 | *Unknown* | Novel | Banned in Australia in 1969. [10] [ further explanation needed ] |
The Anarchist Cookbook | William Powell | 1971 | 1985 | Currently banned | Instructional | The book was refused classification in 1985 thus making it banned in Australia under the National Classification Code Table 1.(c) for publications that could "promote, incite or instruct in matters of crime or violence" [10] [19] [20] |
How to make disposable silencers (1984) | Desert and Eliezer Flores | 1984 | *Unknown* | *Unknown* | Instructional | An example of a class of books banned in Australia that "promote, incite or instruct in matters of crime or violence". [21] [22] |
American Psycho | Bret Easton Ellis | 1991 | 1991 | 1992 (ages 18+) *Unknown* (younger than 18) | Novel | Sale and purchase was banned in the Australian State of Queensland. Now available in public libraries and for sale to people 18 years and older. Sale restricted to persons at least 18 years old in the other Australian states. [23] |
A Sneaking Suspicion (1995) | John Dickson | 1995 | 2015 | 2015 | Religious text | Banned by the New South Wales Department of Education and Communities from state schools May 6, 2015, on the basis of a "potential risk to students in the delivery of this material, if not taught sensitively and in an age appropriate manner." [24] The ban was lifted May 18, 2015. |
The Peaceful Pill Handbook (2007) | Philip Nitschke and Fiona Stewart | 2007 | 2007 | 2007 | Instructional manual on euthanasia | The book was initially restricted in Australia: [25] after review the 2007 edition was banned outright. [22] [26] [27] |
You: An Introduction (2008) | Michael Jensen | 2008 | 2015 | 2015 | Religious text | Banned by the New South Wales Department of Education and Communities from state schools May 6, 2015, on the basis of a "potential risk to students in the delivery of this material, if not taught sensitively and in an age appropriate manner." [24] The ban was lifted May 18, 2015. |
No Game No Life (Volumes 1, 2, 9) | Yuu Kamiya | 2012–2016 | 2020 | *Unknown* | Novel | Light novel volumes banned in Australia due to depiction which "in a way that is likely to cause offence to a reasonable adult, a person who is, or appears to be, a child under 18". [28] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Year Banned | Year Unbanned | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Sorrows of Young Werther | Johann Wolfgang von Goethe | 1774 | *Unknown* | *Unknown* | Novel | Banned by the authorities in the Austrian territories ruled by the Habsburg monarchy. [29] |
Works | Karl Marx | 1841–1883 | 1938 | *Unknown* | Non-fiction | All of Marx's works were banned in Austria after the country was annexed by Nazi Germany. [29] |
Works | Albert Einstein | 1901–1938 | 1938 | *Unknown* | Non-fiction | All of Einstein's works published up to 1938 were banned in Austria, after it was annexed by Nazi Germany. [29] |
Mein Kampf (1925) | Adolf Hitler | 1925 | 1947 | Political manifesto | In Austria, the Verbotsgesetz 1947 prohibits the printing of the book. It is illegal to own[ citation needed ] or distribute existing copies. [30] Following the general prohibition of advocating the Nazi Party or its aims in § 3 and of re-founding Nazi organizations in § 1, § 3 d. of the Verbotsgesetz states: "Whoever publicly or before several people, in printed works, disseminated texts or illustrations requests, encourages or seeks to induce others to commit any of the acts prohibited under § 1 or § 3, especially if for this purpose he glorifies or advertises the aims of the Nazi Party, its institutions or its actions, provided that it does not constitute a more serious criminal offense, will be punished with imprisonment from five to ten years, or up to twenty years if the offender or his actions are especially dangerous." [30] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Rangila Rasul (1927) | Pandit M. A. Chamupati | 1927 | Religious | Currently banned in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. [31] |
The Satanic Verses (1988) | Salman Rushdie | 1988 | Novel | Banned for blasphemy against Islam. Salman received a fatwa for his alleged blasphemy [32] |
Naree (1992) | Humayun Azad | 1992 | Criticism | Banned in Bangladesh in 1995, [33] though the ban was later lifted in 2000. [34] |
Lajja (1993) | Taslima Nasrin | 1993 | Novel | Banned in Bangladesh, [35] [36] and a few states of India. Other books by her were also banned in Bangladesh or in the Indian state of West Bengal. Amar Meyebela (My Girlhood, 2002), the first volume of her memoir, was banned by the Bangladeshi government in 1999 for "reckless comments" against Islam and the prophet Mohammad. [37] Utal Hawa (Wild Wind), the second part of her memoir, was banned by the Bangladesh government in 2002. [38] Ka (Speak up), the third part of her memoir, was banned by the Bangladeshi High Court in 2003. Under pressure from Indian Muslim activists, the book, which was published in West Bengal as Dwikhandita, was banned there also; some 3,000 copies were seized immediately. [39] The decision to ban the book was criticised by "a host of authors" in West Bengal, [40] but the ban was not lifted until 2005. [41] [42] Sei Sob Ondhokar (Those Dark Days), the fourth part of her memoir, was banned by the Bangladesh government in 2004. [43] [44] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Uitgeverij Guggenheimer ("Guggenheimer Publishers") (1999) | Herman Brusselmans | 1999 | Novel | Banned in Belgium because this satirical novel offended fashion designer Ann Demeulemeester by making derogatory remarks about her personal looks and profession. A court decided the book was an insult to the individual's private life and ordered it to be removed from the stores. [45] [46] [47] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Mountain Wreath (1847) | Petar II Petrović-Njegoš | 1847 | Drama in verse | Banned in Bosnian schools by Carlos Westendorp.[ citation needed ] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Happy New Year (1975) | Rubem Fonseca | 1975 | Short stories | Banned in Brazil during the military dictatorship by order of the then Minister of Justice, Armando Falcão, under the accusation of "attacking morality and good habits". The author of the book, Rubem Fonseca, filed a lawsuit against the Brazilian government. In 1980, the case was tried for the first time and the judge upheld the ban, claiming that the work incited violence. The ban was lifted in 1985, with the end of the military dictatorship, but the book only received a new edition in 1989, when Fonseca appealed and won the case in court. [48] [49] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Droll Stories | Honoré de Balzac | 1837 | Short stories | Banned for obscenity in 1914. [50] [8] |
Lady Chatterley's Lover | D. H. Lawrence | 1928 | Novel | The unexpurgated United States edition was allowed to be imported by McClelland & Stewart in 1959. [51] The book's status as an obscene publication was not resolved until a ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada in 1962. [52] |
By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept | Elizabeth Smart | 1945 | Autobiographical prose poetry | Banned in Canada from 1945 to 1975 under the influence of Smart's family's political power due to its sexual documentation of Smart's affair with a married man. |
The Naked and the Dead (1948) | Norman Mailer | 1948 | Novel | Banned in Canada in 1949 for "obscenity". [53] |
Lolita (1955) | Vladimir Nabokov | 1955 | Novel | Banned in Canada in 1956. The ban was not enforced on imports of the Putnam edition from the United States and was lifted in late 1958. [54] [55] |
Peyton Place (1956) | Grace Metalious | 1956 | Novel | Banned in Canada from 1956 to 1958. [55] |
How to Kill (series) | John Minnery | 1973 | Instructional | Banned in Canada in 1977. [56] [57] |
The Hoax of the Twentieth Century | Arthur Butz | 1976 | Non-fiction | Classified as "hate literature" in Canada with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police destroying copies as recently as 1995. [58] |
The Turner Diaries | William Luther Pierce | 1978 | Novel | Classified as "hate literature" in Canada and subsequently banned from import into the country. [58] |
Lethal Marriage | Nick Pron | 1995 | True crime | Written by a newspaper reporter about the Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka case, this book allegedly contains inaccuracies, additionally, complaints were received by the St. Catharines library board from the mother of a victim that led to the book being removed from all public library branches in the city. [58] As recently as 1999 this book was still unavailable to public library patrons in St. Catherines. [58] |
Lost Girls | Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie | 2006 | Graphic novel | Importation was initially prohibited on publication in 2006. The prohibition was overturned in October 2006 after a formal appeal by the publisher to the Canada Border Services Agency determined the book was not legally obscene. [59] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
How to Read Donald Duck | Ariel Dorfman and Armand Mattelart | 1971 | Non-fiction | Banned in Pinochet's Chile. The Chilean army publicly burned copies of the book. [60] |
The House of the Spirits | Isabel Allende | 1982 | Novel | Banned in Pinochet's Chile. [61] |
Clandestine in Chile | Gabriel García Márquez | 1986 | Non-fiction | Banned in Pinochet's Chile. On November 28, 1986, the Chilean customs authorities seized almost 15,000 copies of Clandestine in Chile , which were later burned by military authorities in Valparaíso. [62] |
Title | Author | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Jane Eyre (1847) | Amy Corzine and Charlotte Brontë | Novel | Jane Eyre was censored because the CCP deemed it socially corrupting to the youth of China during the Cultural Revolution. [63] |
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) | Lewis Carroll | Children's Novel/Adventure | Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was banned in the province of Hunan, China by the KMT's government, beginning in 1931, due to its portrayal of anthropomorphized animals which act with the same level of complexity as human beings. The censor General Ho Chien believed that attributing human language to animals was an insult to humans. He feared that the book would teach children to believe that humans and animals were on the same level, a result which would be "disastrous." [64] |
Various works | Shen Congwen (1902–1988) | Novels | "Denounced by the Communists and Nationalists alike, Mr. Shen saw his writings banned in Taiwan, while mainland [China] publishing houses burned his books and destroyed printing plates for his novels. .... So successful was the effort to erase Mr. Shen's name from the modern literary record that few younger Chinese today recognize his name, much less the breadth of his work. Only since 1978 has the Chinese Government reissued selections of his writings, although in editions of only a few thousand copies. .... In China, his passing was unreported." [65] |
Life and Death in Shanghai (1986) | Nien Cheng | Autobiography | It is about the author's personal tortured experience during the Cultural Revolution. [66] |
Soul Mountain (1989) | Gao Xingjian | Novel | Gao Xingjian won the 2000 Nobel Prize in Literature for the book, however all of his works have been banned for having content critical of the CCP. [67] [68] |
White Snow, Red Blood (1989) | Zhang Zhenglong | Non-fiction novel | Banned in 1990, and both the author and publishers were imprisoned for publishing it. The book includes information about atrocities committed by the Red Army during the siege of Changchun, the smuggling of opium by senior Party leader Wang Zhen during the Chinese Civil War, and claims that China's official description of the "Lin Biao affair" is inaccurate. [69] [70] |
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China (1991) | Jung Chang | Family history | It talked about brutal political upheavals in China and purges of the Cultural Revolution. [71] |
Yellow Peril (1991) | Wang Lixiong | Novel | Banned. The book contains episodes of a fictional collapse of Chinese communist rule. [72] |
Zhuan Falun (1993) | Li Hongzhi | Spiritual/Political [73] [74] [75] | Banned in mainland China. [76] |
The Private Life of Chairman Mao (1994) | Li Zhisui | Memoir | Banned for exploring Mao's private life. [77] [78] |
One Man's Bible (1999) | Gao Xingjian | Novel | All of Gao Xingjian's works have been banned for having content critical of the CCP. [79] [68] |
How the Red Sun Rose: The Origins and Development of the Yan'an Rectification Movement, 1930-1945 (2000) | Gao Hua | History | Banned for exploring in detail Mao Zedong in the Yan'an Rectification and the internal struggles of the CCP. [80] [81] |
Shanghai Baby (2001) | Wei Hui | Semi-autobiographical novel | Banned. Burned in the street and the publisher was shut down for three months because of its sexual and drug-related content, which has been accused of being "immoral" by the government. Other writers have accused the book of plagiarism. [82] [83] |
The Tiananmen Papers (2001) | Compiled by Zhang Liang | Compilation of selected Chinese official documents | Controversy about this book include authenticity of selected documents and selection bias. [84] |
Candy (2003) | Mian Mian | Novel | Chinese government censored it because it was "a poster child for spiritual pollution". [85] |
Death Note (2003 – 2006) | Tsugumi Ohba | Japanese Manga | Officially banned, but discussion and pirated copies are allowed to circulate. [86] [87] |
Zhou Enlai: The Last Perfect Revolutionary (2003 or 2008) | Gao Wenqian | Biography | Banned in China. [88] [89] |
Buying a Fishing Rod for My Grandfather (2004) | Gao Xingjian | Short story collections | All of Gao Xingjian's works have been banned for having content critical of the CCP. [90] [68] |
I Love My Mum (2004) | Chen Xiwo | Political | A novella in which the relationship between Chinese citizens and their government are metaphorically portrayed as a cognitively impaired man in extreme sexual situations with their mother. [91] |
Will the Boat Sink the Water (2004) | Chen Guidi and Wu Chuntao | Academic study | Banned for exploring peasant protests. Sold an estimated 7 million pirated copies, despite being almost immediately banned by China's propaganda department. [92] |
Mao: The Unknown Story (2005) | Jung Chang | Political | Banned due to depicting Chairman Mao Zedong as a fascist leader against his people. Book reviews have also been banned. [93] [94] |
Lingren Wangshi (2005) | Zhang Yihe | Non-fiction | The book, which documents the experiences of Peking Opera artists during the Anti-Rightist Campaign and the Cultural Revolution, was banned by the General Administration of Press and Publication in 2007. [95] [96] |
Dream of Ding Village (2006) | Yan Lianke | Novel | Banned for discussing AIDS in rural China (Plasma Economy), [97] the ban had reportedly been lifted. [98] |
Serve the People! (2008) | Yan Lianke | Novel | Banned for "slandering Mao Zedong", and depicting images of sex. [99] |
Tombstone: The Great Chinese Famine, 1958-1962 (2008) | Yang Jisheng | History | Published in Hong Kong, banned for discussing the Great Chinese Famine. [100] [101] |
Big River, Big Sea — Untold Stories of 1949 (2009) | Lung Ying-tai | Non-Fiction | It sold over 100,000 copies in Taiwan and 10,000 in Hong Kong in its first month of release, but discussion of her work was banned in mainland China following the book launch. [102] |
Prisoner of the State (2009) | Zhao Ziyang | Memoir | Banned. The book is memoirs by former Chinese General Secretary Zhao Ziyang. [103] [104] |
China's Best Actor: Wen Jiabao (2010) | Yu Jie | Political | Published in Hong Kong and banned in mainland China. [105] Author moved to the United States in 2012. [106] |
Bloody Myth: An Account of the Cultural Revolution Massacre of 1967 in Daoxian, Hunan (血的神话: 公元1967年湖南道县文革大屠杀纪实) (2012) | Tan Hecheng | Non-fiction | An account of murders in a rural district of China during Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution. Banned for 26 years and released in 2012. [107] |
Moving Away from the Imperial Regime (2015) | Qin Hui | Political | Banned. The book explores the unfulfilled promise of constitutional democracy, and another historian suggests that it may have been banned because the topic deals with the Chinese dynastic cycle. [108] |
Capital and Ideology (2019) | Thomas Piketty | Economy | Banned for discussing China's income inequality and for refusing to accept censorship for a planned translation. [109] |
Unfree Speech: The Threat to Global Democracy and Why We Must Act, Now (2020) | Joshua Wong | Political | Censored due to inciting secession. Taken out of libraries because of the Hong Kong national security law. [110] |
The Chongzhen Emperor: Diligent Ruler of a Failed Dynasty (2023) | Chen Wutong | History | Censored due to popular comparisons between the final emperor of the Ming dynasty, the Chongzhen Emperor, and Xi Jinping. [111] [112] |
Title | Author | Year published | Year banned | Year unbanned | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The White Disease (1937) | Karel Čapek | 1937 | 1938 | 1945 | Political Play | Banned by government of Second Czechoslovak Republic in 1938. |
Animal Farm (1945) | George Orwell | 1946 | 1948 | 1968 | Political novella | Banned by government in 1948. [113] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
A Feast for the Seaweeds (Walimah li A'ashab al-Bahr) | Haidar Haidar | 1983 | Novel | Banned in Egypt and several other Arab states, and even resulted in a belated angry reaction from the clerics of Al-Azhar University upon reprinting in Egypt in the year 2000. The clerics issued a fatwa banning the novel, and accused Haidar of heresy and offending Islam. Al-Azhar University students staged huge protests against the novel, that eventually led to its confiscation. [114] [115] [116] |
The Satanic Verses (1988) | Salman Rushdie | 1988 | Novel | Banned for blasphemy against Islam. [32] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
One Day of Life (1980) | Manlio Argueta | 1980 | Novel | Banned by El Salvador for its portrayal of human rights violations. [117] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
I Didn't Do It for You: How the World Betrayed a Small African Nation (2005) | Michela Wrong | 2005 | History | Banned in Eritrea in 2014 for its criticism of President Isaias Afewerki. [118] [ failed verification ] |
My Father's Daughter (2005) | Hannah Pool | 2005 | Biography | Banned in Eritrea in 2014 for political content. [118] [ failed verification ] |
Scouting for the Reaper (2014) | Jacob M. Appel | 2014 | Fiction | Banned in Eritrea in 2014 for its criticism of civil liberties under President Isaias Afewerki. [118] [ failed verification ] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Les Mœurs | François-Vincent Toussaint | Book | Officially banned in France in 1748. [119] | |
Lolita (1955) | Vladimir Nabokov | 1955 | Novel | French officials banned it for being "obscene". [4] |
Suicide mode d'emploi (1982) | Claude Guillon | 1982 | Instructional | This book, reviewing recipes for committing suicide, was the cause of a scandal in France in the 1980s, resulting in the enactment of a law prohibiting provocation to commit suicide and propaganda or advertisement of products, objects, or methods for committing suicide. [120] Subsequent reprints were thus illegal. The book was cited by name in the debates of the French National Assembly when examining the bill. [121] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Berlin Garden of Erotic Delights | Erwin von Busse under the pseudonym "Granand" | 1920 | Short story collection | Banned for "indecency" by courts in Berlin and Leipzig [122] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ivanhoe | Walter Scott | 1819 | Novel | Prohibited by Nazi Germany for featuring Jewish characters. [123] |
Oliver Twist | Charles Dickens | 1839 | Novel | Prohibited by Nazi Germany for featuring Jewish characters. [123] |
The Communist Manifesto | Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels | 1848 | Political Manifesto | Prohibited by several countries, including Nazi Germany. [124] |
Works | Stefan Zweig | 1900–1933 | Plays, Novels, Non-fiction | All of Zweig's books published up to 1933 were banned by the Nazis in that same year. [125] |
Works | Sigmund Freud | 1901–1933 | Non-fiction | All of Freud's books published up to 1933 were banned by the Nazis in that same year. [125] |
The Iron Heel | Jack London | 1908 | Novel | Banned by the Nazis along with two other London novels, Martin Eden and The Jacket . [125] |
Works | Bertolt Brecht | 1918–1933 | Plays, Novels, Poetry, Non-fiction | All of Brecht's books published up to 1933 were banned by the Nazis in that same year. [125] |
The Outline of History | H. G. Wells | 1920 | Non-fiction | Wells' book was banned in Nazi Germany. [125] |
The World of William Clissold | H. G. Wells | 1926 | Novel | Banned in Nazi Germany in 1936. A further note to the banning order added that "all other works by the author" were to be suppressed. [126] |
All Quiet on the Western Front | Erich Maria Remarque | 1929 | Anti-war novel | Banned in Nazi Germany for being demoralizing and insulting to the Wehrmacht. [127] [128] |
Die Gesteinigten | Friedrich Forster | 1933 | Drama | Banned and printed copies pulped [129] |
The Story of Ferdinand | Munro Leaf | 1936 | Children's fiction | Banned in Nazi Germany. [130] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Jungle | Upton Sinclair | 1906 | Novel | In 1956, it was banned in East Germany for its incompatibility with Communism. [131] [132] |
In today's Germany, a book is considered banned if it has been confiscated by a court. The distribution of a confiscated book is prohibited, but private possession and reading is still legal (with the exception of child and youth pornographic material, where possession is already a criminal offense).
The official list of confiscated books was published by the Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons (Bundeszentrale für Kinder- und Jugendmedienschutz) in the magazine "BzKJaktuell" until the beginning of 2022.
The list of confiscated books should not be confused with books on the "List of Media Harmful to Young Persons" (colloquially known as the "Index"). Books indexed by the Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons are subject to strict restrictions and may only be offered and sold to adults. [133]
This list collectively lists media that violate one of the following paragraphs:
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Auschwitz - Die Erste Vergasung - Gerüchte und Wirklichkeit | Carlo Mattogno | 2007 | Holocaust denial | Confiscated by the Mannheim Regional Court in September 2012. [138] Unofficial title translation: Auschwitz, The First Gassing, Rumors and Reality |
Auschwitz - Tätergeständnisse und Augenzeugen des Holocaust | Jürgen Graf | 1994 | Holocaust denial | Confiscated by the Mannheim Regional Court in November 1994. [139] Unofficial title translation: Auschwitz - Confessions of Perpetrators and Eyewitnesses of the Holocaust |
Der Auschwitz-Mythos - Legende oder Wirklichkeit | Wilhelm Stäglich | 1978 | Holocaust denial | Confiscated by the Stuttgart Regional Court in May 1982. [140] Unofficial title translation: The Auschwitz Myth - Legend or Reality |
Balisong - The Lethal Art of Filipino Knife Fighting | Sid Cambell, Gary Cagaanan, Sonny Umpad, published by Paladin Press | 1986 | Instructional | Confiscated by the Munich Regional Court in May 1991. [141] |
Black Book Companion - State-of-the Art Improvised Munitions | Published by Paladin Press | 1990 | Instructional | Confiscated by the Munich Regional Court in July 1991. [142] |
Die Chemie von Auschwitz - Die Technologie und Toxikologie von Zyklon B und den Gaskammern - Eine Tatortuntersuchung | Germar Rudolf | 2017 | Holocaust denial | Confiscated by the Darmstadt Regional Court in March 2018. [143] Unofficial title translation: The Chemistry of Auschwitz - The Technology and Toxicology of Zyklon B and the Gas Chambers - A Crime Scene Investigation |
Cold Steel - Technique of Close Combat | John Styres, published by Paladin Press | 1952 | Instructional | Confiscated by the Munich Regional Court in May 1991. [144] |
Deathtrap! Improvised Booby-Trap Devices | Jo Jo Gonzales, published by Paladin Press | 1989 | Instructional | Confiscated by the Munich Regional Court in July 1991. [145] |
Dragons Touch - Weaknesses of the Human Anatomy | Master Hei Long, published by Paladin Press | 1983 | Instructional | Confiscated by the Munich Regional Court in May 1991. [146] |
Get Tough! How to Win in Hand-to-Hand Fighting | William E. Fairbairn, published by Paladin Press | 1942 | Instructional | Confiscated by the Munich Regional Court in July 1991. [147] |
Der Holocaust auf dem Prüfstand - Augenzeugenberichte versus Naturgesetze | Jürgen Graf | 1992 | Holocaust denial | Confiscated by the Weinheim Regional Court in September 1993. [148] Unofficial title translation: The Holocaust under scrutiny - eyewitness accounts versus natural laws |
Der Holocaust-Schwindel | Jürgen Graf | 1993 | Holocaust denial | Confiscated by the Weinheim Regional Court in September 1993. [149] Unofficial title translation: The Holocaust Hoax |
Home Workshop Explosives | Uncle Fester , published by Loompanics Unlimited | 1990 | Instructional | Confiscated by the Munich Regional Court in July 1991. [150] |
Homemade Guns and Homemade Ammo | Ronald B. Brown, published by Loompanics Unlimited | 1986 | Instructional | Confiscated by the Munich Regional Court in July 1991. [151] |
Mein Kampf | Adolf Hitler | 1925 | Political manifesto | In Germany, the copyright of the book was held by the State Government of Bavaria, and the Bavarian authorities prevented any reprinting from 1945 onward. This did not affect existing copies, which were available as vintage books. In 2016, following the expiration of the copyright, Mein Kampf was republished in Germany for the first time since 1945 as a commented edition by the Institut für Zeitgeschichte. [152] An uncommented reprint was confiscated by the Forchheim Regional Court in October 2016 for Incitement of masses . [153] [154] Annotated editions are not affected by the confiscation. |
The Poisoner's Handbook | Maxwell Hutchkinson, published by Loompanics Unlimited | 1988 | Instructional | Confiscated by the Munich Regional Court in May 1991. [155] |
Silent Death | Uncle Fester , published by Loompanics Unlimited | 1989 | Instructional | Confiscated by the Munich Regional Court in May 1991. [156] |
Todesursache Zeitgeschichtsforschung | Jürgen Graf | 1995 | Holocaust denial | Confiscated by the Mannheim Regional Court in January 1996. [157] Unofficial title translation: Cause of death: Contemporary history research |
Vorlesungen über den Holocaust - Strittige Fragen im Kreuzverhör | Germar Rudolf | 2005 | Holocaust denial | Confiscated by the Mannheim Regional Court in March 2007. [158] Unofficial title translation: Lectures on the Holocaust - Controversial Questions in Cross-Examination |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lysistrata (411 BC) | Aristophanes | Play | Banned in 1967 in Greece because of its anti-war message. [159] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mein Kampf (1925) | Adolf Hitler | 1925 | Political manifesto | Banned during the regime of Jorge Ubico along with anti-Hitler writings such as by those of Hermann Rauschning in order to encourage political neutrality in WWII. [160] |
El Señor Presidente | Miguel Ángel Asturias | 1946 | Novel | Banned in Guatemala because it went against the ruling political leaders. [161] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Fugitive (Perburuan) (1950) | Pramoedya Ananta Toer | 1950 | Novel | Banned in Indonesia in 1950, for containing "subversive" material, including an attempt to promote Marxist–Leninist thought and other Communist theories. As of 2006, the ban is still in effect. [162] |
All Chinese literature | 1967 | Literature and Culture | Presidential Instruction No. 14/1967 (Inpress No. 14/1967) on Chinese Religion, Beliefs, and Traditions effectively banned any Chinese literature in Indonesia, including the prohibition of Chinese characters. | |
The Satanic Verses (1988) | Salman Rushdie | 1988 | Novel | Banned for blasphemy against Islam. [163] |
Interest | Kevin Gaughen | 2015 | Novel | Banned by the government of Indonesia for subversive and/or anti-government themes. |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Satanic Verses (1988) | Salman Rushdie | 1988 | Novel | Banned for blasphemy against Islam. [32] |
The Gods Laugh on Mondays (1995) | Reza Khoshnazar | 1995 | Novel | Was banned in Iran after men torched its publication house. [164] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Christianity not Mysterious | John Toland | 1696 | Non-fiction | Banned by the Irish Parliament for contradicting the teaching of the Anglican Church. Copies of the book were burnt by the public hangman in Dublin. [165] |
Droll Stories | Honoré de Balzac | 1837 | Short stories | Banned for obscenity in 1953. The ban was lifted in 1967. [8] |
Married Love | Marie Stopes | 1918 | Non-fiction | Banned by the Irish Censorship Board for discussing birth control. [166] |
And Quiet Flows the Don | Mikhail Sholokhov | 1928–1940 | Novel Sequence | The English translations of Sholokhov's work were banned for "indecency". [167] |
Elmer Gantry | Sinclair Lewis | 1927 | Novel | Elmer Gantry was banned in the Irish Free State. [168] |
The House of Gold | Liam O'Flaherty | 1929 | Novel | The first book to be banned by the Irish Free State for alleged "indecency". Republished in 2013. [169] |
A Farewell to Arms | Ernest Hemingway | 1929 | Novel | Suppressed in the Irish Free State. [167] |
Marriage and Morals | Bertrand Russell | 1929 | Non-fiction | Suppressed in the Irish Free State for discussing sex education, birth control and open marriages. [167] |
Commonsense and the Child | Ethel Mannin | 1931 | Non-fiction | Banned in the Irish Free State for advocating sex education for adolescents. [167] |
The Bulpington of Blup | H. G. Wells | 1932 | Novel | Banned in the Irish Free State. [168] |
Brave New World | Aldous Huxley | 1932 | Novel | Banned in Ireland in 1932, allegedly because of references of sexual promiscuity. [166] |
The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind | H. G. Wells | 1932 | Non-fiction | Banned in the Irish Free State. [168] |
Men of Good Will | Jules Romains | 1932–1946 | Novel Sequence | The English translations of Romains' novel sequence were banned in the Irish Free State. [167] |
The Martyr | Liam O'Flaherty | 1933 | Novel | Banned in the Irish Free State. [168] |
The Laws of Life | Halliday Sutherland | 1935 | Non-fiction | Banned in the Irish Free State for discussing sex education and Calendar-based contraceptive methods – even though The Laws of Life had been granted a Cum permissu superiorum endorsement by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster. [170] |
Honourable Estate | Vera Brittain | 1936 | Novel | Banned in the Irish Free State. [167] |
I Knock at the Door | Seán O'Casey | 1939 | Autobiography | Banned in Ireland. [170] |
Dutch Interior | Frank O'Connor | 1940 | Novel | Banned in Ireland. [170] |
The Tailor and Ansty | Eric Cross | 1942 | Non-fiction | Banned by the Irish censors for discussing sexuality in rural Ireland. [171] |
Borstal Boy | Brendan Behan | 1958 | Autobiographical novel | Banned in Ireland in 1958. The Irish Censorship of Publications Board was not obliged to reveal its reason but it is believed that it was rejected for its critique of Irish republicanism and the Catholic Church, and its depiction of adolescent sexuality. [17] |
The Country Girls | Edna O'Brien | 1960 | Novel | Banned by Ireland's censorship board in 1960 for its explicit sexual content. [172] [173] |
The Lonely Girl (1962) | Edna O'Brien | 1962 | Novel | Banned in Ireland in 1962 after Archbishop John Charles McQuaid complained personally to Justice Minister Charles Haughey that it "was particularly bad". [173] |
The Dark | John McGahern | 1965 | Novel | Banned in Ireland for obscenity. [174] |
My Secret Garden | Nancy Friday | 1973 | Non-fiction | Banned in Ireland for its sexual content. [175] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
All Quiet on the Western Front | Erich Maria Remarque | 1928 | Fiction | Banned in Fascist Italy because of its antimilitarism (currently not banned). [176] |
A Farewell to Arms | Ernest Hemingway | 1929 | Fiction | Banned in Fascist Italy for depicting the Italian Army's defeat at the Battle of Caporetto (currently this book is not banned). [177] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Little Black Sambo (1899) | Helen Bannerman | 1899 | Children's story | Banned in Japan (1988–2005) to quell "political threats to boycott Japanese cultural exports", although the pictures were not those of the original version. [178] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Satanic Verses (1988) | Salman Rushdie | 1988 | Novel | Banned for blasphemy against Islam. [32] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Satanic Verses (1988) | Salman Rushdie | 1988 | Novel | Banned for blasphemy against Islam. [32] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sophie's Choice (1979) | William Styron | 1979 | Novel | Banned in Lebanon for its positive depiction of Jews. [127] |
Schindler's Ark (1982) | Thomas Keneally | 1982 | Novel | Banned in Lebanon for its positive depiction of Jews. [127] |
The Da Vinci Code | Dan Brown | 2003 | Novel | Banned in September 2004 in Lebanon after Catholic leaders deemed it offensive to Christianity. (See Inaccuracies in The Da Vinci Code.) [127] [179] |
Grover's Eight Nights of Light | Jodie Shepherd | 2017 | Sesame Street book | Banned in 2017 for promoting Hanukkah. |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Satanic Verses (1988) | Salman Rushdie | 1988 | Novel | Banned for blasphemy against Islam. [32] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Satanic Verses (1988) | Salman Rushdie | 1988 | Novel | Banned for blasphemy against Islam. [32] |
Onward Muslim Soldiers | Robert Spencer | 2003 | Non-fiction | On July 12, 2007, the government of Malaysia announced a ban on Spencer's book, citing "confusion and anxiety among the Muslims" as the cause. [180] |
Fifty Shades Trilogy | E L James | 2011–12 | Novel | The entire trilogy was banned in Malaysia from 2015 for containing "sadistic" material and "threat to morality". [181] |
The Mask of Sanity (2017) | Jacob M. Appel | 2017 | Novel | Banned preemptively in Malaysia for blasphemy. [182] |
Rebirth: Reformasi, Resistance, and Hope in New Malaysia | Kean Wong | 2020 | Non- fiction | Banned for containing insulting elements to the Malaysian coat of arms which is likely to be prejudicial to public order, security, national interest, alarm public opinion and contrary to any law, and therefore is "absolutely prohibited throughout Malaysia". [183] |
Gay is OK! A Christian Perspective(2013–2022) | Boon Lin Ngeo | 2013 | Non-fiction | Banned for attempting to promote homosexual culture in Malaysia, which goes against religious and cultural sensitivities in the country. [184] In 2022, the ban was challenged through a judicial review petition in High Court of Kuala Lumpur. The court quashed the ban and ordered the Home Ministry of Malaysia to pay RM 5000 to the author. [185] |
Peichi (Tamil: ''பேய்ச்சி'') | Ma. Naveen | 2020 | Novel | Banned for containing pornographic and immoral content. [186] Notably, it was the first Tamil language publication to be banned in the country. |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Notre ami le roi(1993) | Gilles Perrault | 1993 | Biography of Hassan II of Morocco | Banned in Morocco. This book is a biography of King Hassan and examines cases of torture, killing, and political imprisonment said to have been carried out by the Moroccan Government at his orders. [187] |
Le roi prédateur(2012) | Catherine Graciet and Éric Laurent | 2012 | Investigative Journalism | Banned in Morocco. This book makes allegedly "defamatory" accusations of corruption against Mohammed VI of Morocco, after investigating the exponential growth of his wealth. [188] [189] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Rape of Sita (1993) | Lindsay Collen | 1993 | Novel | Banned for blasphemy against Hindu goddess. |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Satanic Verses (1988) | Salman Rushdie | 1988 | Novel | Banned for blasphemy against Islam. [32] |
A Modern Approach to Social Studies (2010) | Unknown | 2010 | School textbook | Banned for blasphemy against Islam. [190] |
Self Study Material on Nepal's Territory and Border (2020) | Ministry of Education, Science and Technology | 2020 | Map book | Banned for irredentist views regarding the country's neighbors. [190] [ failed verification ] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Cover-up General | Edwin Giltay | 2014 | Non-fiction thriller | Banned in the Netherlands by court order in 2015 as a former spy of Dutch military intelligence claimed she was described falsely in this Srebrenica book. [191] Ban lifted by the Court of Appeal of The Hague in 2016. [192] [193] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lolita (1955) | Vladimir Nabokov | 1955 | Novel | Banned for being "obscene"; uncensored in 1964. [4] |
Borstal Boy | Brendan Behan | 1958 | Autobiographical novel | Banned shortly after its ban in Ireland in 1958. It was allowed to be published in New Zealand in 1963. [17] |
The Peaceful Pill Handbook (2007) | Philip Nitschke and Fiona Stewart | 2007 | Instructional manual on euthanasia | Initially banned in New Zealand by Office of Film & Literature Classification since it was deemed to be objectionable. [194] In May 2008 an edited version of the book was allowed for sale if sealed and an indication of the censorship classification was displayed. |
Into the River (2012) | Ted Dawe | 2012 | Novel | Banned in New Zealand in 2015; subsequently unrestricted in the same year. [195] |
The Great Replacement (2019) | Brenton Harrison Tarrant | 2019 | Manifesto | The Christchurch shooter's manifesto was banned shortly after it appeared on the internet in 2019. |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
My Watch (2005) | Olusegun Obasanjo | 2014 | Autobiography | Banned in Nigeria because this three-volume memoir of the former Nigerian president were highly critical of nearly everyone in Nigerian politics. The books were ordered to be seized by the High Court in Nigeria until a libel case had been heard in court. [196] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Fra Kristiania-Bohêmen | Hans Jæger | 1885 | Novel | Sexually explicit. [197] |
Albertine | Christian Krohg | 1886 | Novel | Sexually explicit. [198] |
Snorri the Seal (1941) | Frithjof Sælen | 1941 | Fable | Satirical book banned during the German occupation of Norway. [199] |
The Song of the Red Ruby | Agnar Mykle | 1956 | Novel | Sexually explicit. Ban lifted in 1958. [200] |
Without a Stitch | Jens Bjørneboe | 1966 | Novel | Sexually explicit. The ban was never formally lifted. [201] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
On the Origins and Perpetual Use of the Legislative Powers of the Apostolic Kings of Hungary in Matters Ecclesiastical (1764) | Adam F. Kollár | 1764 | Political | Banned in the Papal States for arguments against the political role of the Roman Catholic Church. [202] Original title: De Originibus et Usu perpetuo. |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Satanic Verses (1988) | Salman Rushdie | 1988 | Novel | Banned for blasphemy against Islam. [32] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Noli Me Tángere | Jose Rizal | 1887 | Novel | Banned by Spanish colonial authorities in the Philippines due to being critical to the Spanish government. [203] |
El Filibusterismo | Jose Rizal | 1891 | Novel | |
The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos | Primitivo Mijares | 1976 | Non-fiction | Banned for during the Martial Law period due to being critical of the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos. [204] |
The Untold Story of Imelda Marcos | Carmen Navarro Pedrosa | Biography | Banned in 1972, shortly after the start of the Martial Law period under President Ferdinand Marcos. The "unauthorized" biography was banned for the depiction of First Lady Imelda Marcos' extravagance. [204] | |
Tawid diwa sa pananagisag ni Bienvenido Lumbera: Ang Bayan, ang Nanunulat at ang Magasing Sagisag sa Imahinatibong Yugto ng Batas Militar 1975–1979 | Dexter Cayanes | Research on the literary works by Bienvenido Lumbera, who was imprisoned during the Martial Law period under President Ferdinand Marcos. Banned in 2022 by the Commission on the Filipino Language (KWF) from public libraries and schools for being "anti-government". [205] | ||
Teatro Political Dos | Malou Jacob | Banned in 2022 by the Commission on the Filipino Language (KWF) from public libraries and schools for being "anti-government". The works are previously published under the auspices of the KWF. [205] | ||
Kalatas: Mga Kuwentong Bayan at Kuwentong Buhay | Rommel Rodriguez | |||
May Hadlang ang Umaga | Don Pagusara | |||
Labas: Mga Palabas ng Sentro | Reuel Aguilla | Banned in 2022 by the Commission on the Filipino Language (KWF) from public libraries and schools for being "anti-government [205] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mirror of the Polish Crown (1618) | Sebastian Miczyński | 1618 | 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. [206] |
Mein Kampf (1925) | Adolf Hitler | 1925 | Political manifesto | Banned until 1992. [127] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
História do Mundo para as Crianças (pt) | Monteiro Lobato | 1933 | Novel | The book was banned by the Portuguese government without any clear reason. According to the author, one possible reason was because he was from the "current of thought what claims that the discovery of Brazil happened 'by random'" or by the fact he "have registered the history of the 1600 years cut to the Arabian navy by Vasco da Gama". [207] |
New Portuguese Letters (Novas Cartas Portuguesas) | Maria Isabel Barreno, Maria Teresa Horta and Maria Velho da Costa | 1972 | Banned as "pornographic and an offense to public morals"; authors charged with "abuse of the freedom of the press" and "outrage to public decency"; uplifted after the Carnation Revolution in 1974. [208] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Boys | Garth Ennis | 2012 | Comic book series | Banned in Qatar in 2012. [209] [ further explanation needed ] |
The Man Who Wouldn't Stand Up (2012) | Jacob M. Appel | 2012 | Novel | Banned in Qatar in 2014 for its depiction of Islam. [210] |
Love Comes Later (2014) | Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar | 2014 | Novel | Banned in Qatar. [211] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Thalia | Arius (AD 250 or 256 – 336) | Theological tract, partly in verse | 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. [212] Banned by the Catholic Church for the next thousand plus years.[ citation needed ] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Quran | Unknown | Religious text | In 2013, a Russian court censored the text under the country's 'extremism' laws. [213] | |
Rights of Man (1791) | Thomas Paine | 1791 | Political theory | Banned in Tsarist Russia after the Decembrist revolt. [214] |
The Communist Manifesto | Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels | 1848 | Political Manifesto | Prohibited by several countries, including Tsarist Russia. [124] |
Works | Friedrich Nietzsche | 1872–1901 | Non-fiction | Banned in Soviet Union since 1923 on proposal of Nadezhda Krupskaya. All works were placed on the list of forbidden books and kept in libraries only for restricted, authorized use. [215] |
Looking Backward | Edward Bellamy | 1888 | Novel | Prohibited by the Tsarist Russian censors. [216] |
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion (1903) | Unknown | 1903 | A forgery, portraying a Jewish conspiracy to take over the world | Banned in various libraries and many attempts to ban in various nations, such as in Russia.[ citation needed ] |
Mein Kampf (1925) | Adolf Hitler | 1925 | Political manifesto | Banned in the Russian Federation as extremist. [217] |
Animal Farm | George Orwell | 1945 | Political novella | Completed in 1943, Orwell found that no publisher would print the book, due to its criticism of the USSR, an important ally of Britain in the War. [218] Once published, the book was banned in the USSR and other communist countries. [219] |
Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) | George Orwell | 1949 | Novel | Banned by the Soviet Union [127] in 1950, as Stalin understood that it was a satire based on his leadership. It was not until 1990 that the Soviet Union legalised the book and it was re-released after editing. [220] |
Doctor Zhivago | Boris Pasternak | 1955–1988 | Novel | Banned in the Soviet Union until 1988 for criticizing life in Russia after the Russian Revolution. When its author, Boris Pasternak, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958 he was forced to reject it under government pressure. [127] |
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1962) | Alexander Solzhenitsyn | 1962 | Novel | Banned from publication in the Soviet Union in 1964. [162] |
The First Circle (1968) | Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn | 1968 | Novel | After Nikita Khrushchev was removed from power in 1964, all extant and forthcoming works by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn were banned in the Soviet Union. This work details the lives of scientists forced to work in a Stalinist research center. [221] |
The Gulag Archipelago (1973) | Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn | 1973 | Non-fiction | Banned in the Soviet Union because it went against the image the Soviet Government tried to project of itself and its policies. [222] However, it has been available in the former Soviet Union since at least the 1980s. In 2009, the Education Ministry of Russia added The Gulag Archipelago to the curriculum for high-school students. [223] |
Apocalypse Culture | Adam Parfrey | 1987 | Non-fiction | Collection of articles, interviews and documents exploring various marginal aspects of 20th century culture. In 2006, shortly after Ultra.Kultura (Ультра.Культура) published a Russian edition combining Apocalypse Culture and Apocalypse Culture II as a single volume titled Культура времен Апокалипсиса, the volume was banned by Kremlin decree as drug propaganda, owing to its inclusion of David Woodard's essay "The Ketamine Necromance". All unsold copies were condemned and ordered destroyed. |
Siege | James Mason | 1992 | Non-fiction | Anthology of essays advocating for neo-Nazi revolution through terrorism. Banned on August 14, 2023. [224] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Queen of Sheba and Biblical Scholarship | Bernard Leeman | History | Currently banned in Saudi Arabia for suggesting the Hebrews originated in Yemen and their Israelite successors established their original pre-586 B.C.E. kingdoms of Israel and Judah between Medina and Yemen.[ citation needed ] | |
Goat Days | Benyamin & Joseph Koyippally | 2008 | Novel | Currently banned in Saudi Arabia. [225] [226] |
Fazail-e-Amaal | Muhammad Zakariya Kandhlawi | Sometime between the 1920s and 1950s | Sufi evangalism | Currently banned in Saudi Arabia. [227] [228] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Satanic Verses (1988) | Salman Rushdie | 1988 | Novel | Banned for blasphemy against Islam. [32] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Value, Price and Profit | Karl Marx | 1865 | Non-fiction | Banned under the Internal Security (Prohibition of Publications) (Consolidation) Order. [229] |
Origin of Family, Private Property and State | Friedrich Engels | 1884 | Non-fiction | |
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back | Vladimir Lenin | 1904 | Non-fiction | |
Theories of Surplus Value | Karl Marx | 1905 | Non-fiction | |
Two Tactics of Social Democracy in the Democratic Revolution | Vladimir Lenin | 1905 | Non-fiction | |
Anarchism or Socialism? | Joseph Stalin | 1907 | Non-fiction | |
Fundamental Problems of Marxism | Georgi Plekhanov | 1908 | Political pamphlet | |
Heroines of the Modern Progress | Elmer C. Adams | 1913 | Non-fiction | |
The Right of Nations to Self-Determination | Vladimir Lenin | 1914 | Non-fiction | |
What Is to Be Done? | Vladimir Lenin | 1917 | Non-fiction | |
Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism | Vladimir Lenin | 1917 | Non-fiction | |
State and Revolution | Vladimir Lenin | 1917 | Non-fiction | |
The Proletarian Revolution and the Renegade Kautsky | Vladimir Lenin | 1918 | Non-fiction | |
Friedrich Engels: A Biography | Gustav Mayer | 1920 | Biography | |
"Left-Wing" Communism: An Infantile Disorder | Vladimir Lenin | 1920 | Non-fiction | |
On Cooperation | Vladimir Lenin | 1923 | Non-fiction | |
Problems of Leninism | Joseph Stalin | 1926 | Non-fiction | |
Time, Forward! | Valentin Katayev | 1932 | Novel | |
How the Steel Was Tempered | Nikolai Ostrovsky | 1936 | Novel | |
Marxism and the National and Colonial Question | Joseph Stalin | 1937 | Non-fiction | |
Combat Liberalism | Mao Zedong | 1937 | Non-fiction | |
The A to Z of the Soviet Union | Alex Page | 1946 | Non-fiction | |
Aspects of China's Anti-Japanese Struggle | Mao Zedong | 1948 | Non-fiction | |
The Case for Communism | William Gallacher | 1949 | Non-fiction | |
Twilight of World Capitalism | William Z. Foster | 1949 | Non-fiction | |
Concerning Marxism in Linguistics | Joseph Stalin | 1950 | Non-fiction | |
The Social and State Structure of the USSR | Alexander Karpinsky | 1952 | Non-fiction | |
The Satanic Verses | Salman Rushdie | 1988 | Novel | Banned in 1989 for blasphemy against Islam. [32] [230] |
What Islam Is All About | Yahiya Emerick | 1997 | Religious education | Banned in 2018 for "promoting enmity among different religious communities". [231] [232] [233] |
The Wisdom of Jihad | Abuhuraira Abdurrahman | 2005 | Non-fiction | |
Things that Nullify One's Islaam | Shaykh al-Islaam Muhammad ibn 'Abdil-Wahhaab | 2013 | Non-fiction | |
Red Lines: Political Cartoons and the Struggle Against Censorship | Cherian George and Sonny Liew | 2021 | Non-fiction | Banned in 2021 for offensive content against Muslims. [234] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Frankenstein (1818) | Mary Shelley | 1818 | Novel | Banned in apartheid South Africa in 1955 for containing "obscene" or "indecent" material. [159] |
"The Lottery" (1948) | Shirley Jackson | 1948 | Short story | Banned in South Africa during Apartheid. [235] |
Lolita (1955) | Vladimir Nabokov | 1955 | Novel | Banned for being "obscene". [4] |
A World of Strangers | Nadine Gordimer | 1958 | Novel | Banned in South Africa because of its criticism of Apartheid. [236] |
Why We Can't Wait | Martin Luther King Jr. | 1964 | Non-fiction | Banned in South Africa because of its criticism of white supremacy. [237] |
The First Book of Africa | Langston Hughes | 1964 | Non-fiction; Children's book | Banned in South Africa for its celebration of Black African culture. [237] |
The Autobiography of Malcolm X | Malcolm X with Alex Haley | 1965 | Non-fiction | Banned in South Africa because of its criticism of white supremacy. [237] |
Black Power: The Politics of Liberation | Stokely Carmichael and Charles V. Hamilton | 1967 | Non-fiction | Banned in South Africa because of its criticism of white supremacy. [237] |
Soul on Ice | Eldridge Cleaver | 1968 | Non-fiction | Banned in South Africa because of its criticism of white supremacy, and its sexual content. [237] |
The Satanic Bible (1969) | Anton LaVey | 1969 | Religious text | Banned during apartheid in South Africa from 1973 to 1993 for moral reasons. [238] |
The Struggle Is My Life | Nelson Mandela | 1978 | Non-fiction | Banned in Apartheid South Africa until 1990. [239] |
Burger's Daughter | Nadine Gordimer | 1979 | Novel | Banned in South Africa in July 1979 for going against the government's racial policies; the ban was reversed in October of the same year. [162] |
July's People (1981) | Nadine Gordimer | 1981 | Novel | Banned during the Apartheid-era in South Africa. [240] July's People is now included in the South African school curriculum. [241] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published (South Korea) | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Year 501: The Conquest Continues | Noam Chomsky | 2000 | Politics | Banned from distribution within the South Korean military as part of 23 books banned on August 1, 2008 by the South Korean Ministry of National Defense in response to intelligence suggesting a book-distribution campaign to active-duty soldiers by the pro-North Korean Hanchongnyon. [242] The books were classified into three categories: 11 for praise of North Korea, 10 for anti-government/anti-American content, and 2 for anti-capitalism. [243] [244] |
What Uncle Sam Really Wants | Noam Chomsky | 2007 | Politics | |
Guerillas of the Kingdom of Samsung | Pressian | 2008 | Politics | |
Auf Der Universität | Theodor Storm | 1999 | Politics | |
The Global Trap | Hans-Peter Martin and Harald Schumann | 2003 | Politics | |
Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism | Ha-Joon Chang | 2007 | Non-fiction | |
One Spoon on This Earth | Hyun Ki-young | 1999 | Novel | |
Slots | Shin Gyeong-jin | 2007 | Novel | Banned as part of 19 books added in August 2011 to the 2008 banned book list, all belonging to the 'anti-capitalism' category. [245] |
Respect: Everything a Guy Needs to Know About Sex | Inti Chavez Perez | 2020 | Non-fiction | Banned from distribution to readers below the age of 19 through schools, libraries and book stores in 2024 by the South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The book was reported to authorities as part of a campaign against books on sex education. [246] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Works | Johannes Kepler | 1596–1634 | Non-fiction | Banned by Habsburg Monarchy of Spain for perceived heresy. [247] |
Works | Voltaire | 1727–1778 | Novels, Plays, Non-fiction | Voltaire's entire body of work was banned by the Bourbon Monarchy of Spain, after it was condemned by the Spanish Inquisition. [248] |
Works | Vicente Blasco Ibáñez | 1892–1928 | Novels, Non-fiction | All of Blasco Ibáñez's books were banned by the Franco government in 1939. [249] |
A Short History of the World | H. G. Wells | 1922 | Non-fiction | An expanded, Spanish-language translation of A Short History of the World, discussing recent world events, was banned by Spanish censors in 1940. This edition of A Short History was not published in Spain until 1963. In two 1948 reports, Spanish censors gave a list of objections to the books's publication. These were that the book "shows socialist inclinations, attacks the Catholic Church, gives a twisted interpretation of the Spanish Civil War and the Spanish National Movement, and contains 'tortuous concepts'." [250] |
Ulysses | James Joyce | 1922 | Novel | The complete 1945 Spanish-language translation of Ulysses was suppressed by the Spanish authorities until 1962. [251] |
The Story of Ferdinand | Munro Leaf | 1936 | Children's fiction | Banned in Francoist Spain. [130] |
Homage to Catalonia | George Orwell | 1938 | Non-fiction | Banned in Francoist Spain for its support of the Republican faction during the Spanish Civil War. [252] |
For Whom The Bell Tolls | Ernest Hemingway | 1940 | Novel | Suppressed by the Spanish authorities until 1968. [253] |
Works | Federico García Lorca | 1939 | Poetry, drama | Banned until 1954; published in Argentina. [254] |
You Can't Be Too Careful | H. G. Wells | 1941 | Novel | Banned in Francoist Spain for criticizing Christianity, and for mentioning the Bombing of Guernica by the Axis air forces. [255] |
The Spanish Labyrinth | Gerald Brenan | 1943 | Non-fiction | Banned in Francoist Spain because of its strong criticism of the Nationalist Faction's actions during the Spanish Civil War. [256] |
The Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir | 1949 | Non-fiction | Banned in Francoist Spain for its advocacy of feminism. [257] |
The Hive | Camilo José Cela | 1950 | Fiction | Banned by censors of Francoist Spain. [258] |
The Spanish Civil War | Hugh Thomas | 1961 | Non-fiction | Banned by censors of Francoist Spain for its negative depiction of the Nationalist Faction during the Civil War, and its critique of the Franco regime. [259] |
The Death of Lorca | Ian Gibson | 1971 | Biography | Banned briefly in Spain. [260] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Satanic Verses (1988) | Salman Rushdie | 1988 | Novel | Banned for blasphemy against Islam. [32] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Satanic Verses (1988) | Salman Rushdie | 1988 | Novel | Banned for blasphemy against Islam. [32] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Various works | Shen Congwen | 1902–1988 | Novels | "Denounced by the Communists and Nationalists alike, Mr. Shen saw his writings banned in Taiwan, while mainland China publishing houses burned his books and destroyed printing plates for his novels." [261] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Devil's Discus | Rayne Kruger | 1964 | Non-fiction | Banned in Thailand in 2006 for violating the country's lese-majesté rules through its discussion of the murder of Thailand's king in 1946. [262] [ further explanation needed ] |
The Satanic Verses (1988) | Salman Rushdie | 1988 | Novel | Banned for blasphemy against Islam. [32] |
The King Never Smiles (2006) | Paul M. Handley | 2006 | Biography | Banned in Thailand for its criticism of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. [263] |
Rama X: The Thai Monarchy under King Vajiralongkorn (2006) | Pavin Chachavalpongpun | 2024 | Biography | Banned in Thailand for its criticism of King Vajiralongkorn. [264] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Animal Farm | George Orwell | 1945 | Political novella | In 2002, the novel was banned in the schools of the United Arab Emirates, because it contained text or images that would go against Islamic values, most notably an anthropomorphic, talking pig as the leader of the farm. However, the ban is no longer enforced and has been recently lifted. [162] |
Goat Days | Benyamin & Joseph Koyippally | 2008 | Novel | |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Year Banned | Year Unbanned | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Areopagitica | John Milton | 1644 | 1644 | 1695 | Essay | Banned in the Kingdom of England for political reasons. [265] |
Fanny Hill or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure | John Cleland | 1748 | 1749 | 1970 | Novel | Banned in the UK till after the Second World War. [266] |
Rights of Man | Thomas Paine | 1791 | 1792 | Pre-1990 *Unknown* | Political theory | Banned in the UK and author charged with treason for supporting the French Revolution. [159] |
Despised and Rejected | Rose Laure Allatini (under the pseudonym A. T. Fitzroy) | 1918 | 1918 | 1975 [267] | Novel | Banned under the UK's Defence of the Realm Act for criticizing Britain's involvement in World War I, and for sympathetically depicting male homosexuality. [268] |
Ulysses (1922) | James Joyce | 1922 | 1936 | Novel | Banned in the UK until 1936. [269] [270] | |
Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928) | D. H. Lawrence | 1928 | 1960 | Novel | Banned in the United Kingdom for violation of obscenity laws; the ban was lifted in 1960. [8] | |
The Well of Loneliness (1928) | Radclyffe Hall | 1928 | 1928 | 1949 | Novel | Banned in the UK in 1928 for its lesbian theme; republished in 1949. [271] |
Boy | James Hanley | 1931 | 1934 | 1992 | Novel | Proscuted in 1934 after Hanley's publisher Boriswood lost a court case against a charge of obscenity. [272] Reprinted in 1992 by Penguin Books and André Deutsch. |
Lolita | Vladimir Nabokov | 1955 | 1955 | 1959 [273] | Novel | Banned for being "obscene". [4] |
Last Exit to Brooklyn | Hubert Selby Jr. | 1966 (in the UK) | 1967 | 1968 | Anthology of short stories | Banned in Soho for frank depictions of taboo subjects, such as drug use, street violence, homosexuality, gender identity and domestic violence. [274] |
Spycatcher | Peter Wright | 1985 | 1985 | 1988 | Autobiography | Banned in the 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. [275] [276] |
Lord Horror | David Britton | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | Novel | Banned in England in 1991 where it was found obscene; it is currently the last book to be banned in the UK. The judge ordered the remaining print run to be destroyed. The ban was lifted in the Appeal Court in July 1992 but the book remains out of print. [277] |
The Anarchist Cookbook | William Powell | 1971 | *Unknown* | *Unknown* | Instructional | Criminal due to containing information useful to terrorists. [278] [279] |
Kill or Get Killed | Rex Applegate | 1976 | *Unknown* | *Unknown* | Instructional | Criminal due to containing information useful to terrorists. [278] [279] |
Put 'Em Down. Take 'Em Out. Knife Fighting Techniques From Folsom Prison | Don Pentecost | *Unknown* | *Unknown* | *Unknown* | Instructional | Criminal due to containing information useful to terrorists. [278] [279] |
Title | Author(s) | Year Published | Year Unbanned | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Decameron | Giovanni Boccaccio | 1353 | 1959 | Story collection | Banned from US mail under the Federal Anti-Obscenity Act (Comstock Law) of 1873, which banned the sending or receiving of works containing "obscene", "filthy", or "inappropriate" material. [159] |
The Canterbury Tales | Geoffrey Chaucer | late 14th century | 1959 | Story collection | Banned from US mail under the Federal Anti-Obscenity Act (Comstock Law) of 1873, which banned the sending or receiving of works containing "obscene", "filthy", or "inappropriate" material. U.S. obscenity laws were overturned in 1959 by the Supreme Court in Kingsley Pictures Corp. v. Regents. [280] [281] [159] |
The Meritorious Price of Our Redemption (1650) | William Pynchon | 1650 | *Unknown* | Religious critique | The first book banned in the New World. Pynchon, a prominent leader of the Massachusetts Bay Colony who, in 1636, founded the City of Springfield, Massachusetts, wrote this explicit critique of Puritanism, published in London in 1650. That year, several copies made their way back to the New World. Pynchon, who resided in Springfield, was unaware that his book suffered the New World's first book burning, on the Boston Common. Accused of heresy by the Massachusetts General Court, Pynchon quietly transferred ownership of the Connecticut River Valley's largest land-holdings to his son, and then suffered indignities as he left the New World for England. It was the first work banned in Boston. [282] |
Moll Flanders or The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders (1722) | Daniel Defoe | 1722 | 1959 | Novel | Banned from US mail under the Federal Anti-Obscenity Act (Comstock Law) of 1873, which banned the sending or receiving of works containing "obscene", "filthy", or "inappropriate" material. U.S. obscenity laws were overturned in 1959 by the Supreme Court in Kingsley Pictures Corp. v. Regents. [280] [281] [283] |
Fanny Hill or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure | John Cleland | 1748 | 1959 and 1966 | Novel | Banned in the US in 1821 for obscenity, then again in 1963. This was the last book ever banned by the US government. U.S. obscenity laws were overturned in 1959 by the Supreme Court in Kingsley Pictures Corp. v. Regents. [280] [281] [128] See also Memoirs v. Massachusetts . |
Candide | Voltaire | 1759 | 1959 | Novel | Seized by US Customs in 1930 for obscenity. U.S. obscenity laws were overturned in 1959 by the Supreme Court in Kingsley Pictures Corp. v. Regents. [280] [281] [159] |
Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) | Harriet Beecher Stowe | 1852 | 1865 | Novel | Banned in the Confederate States during the Civil War because of its anti-slavery content. |
Elmer Gantry | Sinclair Lewis | 1927 | 1959 | Novel | Banned in Boston, Massachusetts, Kansas City, Missouri, Camden, New Jersey, and other US cities, this novel by Sinclair focused on religiosity and hypocrisy in the United States during the 1920s by depicting a preacher (the Reverend Dr. Elmer Gantry) as a protagonist who preferred easy money, alcohol, and "enticing young girls" to saving souls, while converting a traveling tent revival crusade into a profitable and permanent evangelical church and radio empire for his employers. Elmer Gantry also widely denounced from pulpits across the United States at the time of its initial publication. U.S. obscenity laws were overturned in 1959 by the Supreme Court in Kingsley Pictures Corp. v. Regents. [280] [281] [284] [285] |
Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928) | D. H. Lawrence | 1928 | 1959 | Novel | Temporarily banned in the United States for violation of obscenity laws; the ban was lifted in 1959.[ clarification needed ] [8] |
Tropic of Cancer (1934) | Henry Miller | 1934 | 1964 | 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 US. [286] Also banned in South Africa until the late 1980s. [287] |
The Grapes of Wrath (1939) | John Steinbeck | 1939 | *Unknown* | Novel | Was temporarily banned in many places in the US. In the state of California in which it was partially set, it was banned for its alleged unflattering portrayal of residents of the area. [288] |
Forever Amber (1944) | Kathleen Winsor | 1944 | *Unknown* | Novel | Banned in fourteen states in the US. Ban was lifted by an appeals court judge. [15] [16] |
Memoirs of Hecate County (1946) | Edmund Wilson | 1946 | 1959 | Novel | Banned in the state of New York by the Supreme Court. [289] |
Howl (1955) | Allen Ginsberg | 1955 | 1957 | Poem | Copies of the first edition seized by San Francisco Customs for obscenity in March 1957; after trial, obscenity charges were dismissed. [290] |
Naked Lunch (1959) | William S. Burroughs | 1959 | 1966 | Novel | Banned by Boston courts in 1962 for obscenity, but that decision was reversed in 1966 by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. [291] |
Pedagogy of the Oppressed | Paulo Freire | 1968 | Never illegal | Educative Theory | Banned in Tucson, Arizona public schools. [292] |
United States – Vietnam Relations, 1945–1967: A Study Prepared by the Department of Defense (1971) | Robert McNamara and the United States Department of Defense | 1971 | Injunction lifted in 1971, Declassified in 2011 | Government study | Also known as the Pentagon Papers . US President Nixon attempted to suspend publication of classified information. The restraint was lifted by the US Supreme Court in a 6–3 decision. [293] See also New York Times Co. v. United States . |
The Federal Mafia | Irwin Schiff | 1992 | Available for free, but denied for sale as deceptive commercial speech, appeal affirmed in 2004. | Non-fiction | An injunction was issued by a US District Court in Nevada under 26 U.S.C. § 7408 against Irwin Schiff and associates Cynthia Neun and Lawrence Cohen against the sale of this book by those persons as the court found that the information it contains is fraudulent. [294] |
Operation Dark Heart (2010) – oop | Army Reserve Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer | 2010 | In 2013, 198 of 433 redactions of classified material reinstated. In 2015, testimony to Congress was permitted. | Memoir | In September 2010 the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) overrode the Army's January approval for publication. The DoD then purchased and destroyed all 9,500 first edition copies, citing concerns that it contained classified information which could damage national security. The publisher, St. Martin's Press, [295] in conjunction with the DoD created a second, redacted edition; which contains blacked out words, lines, paragraphs, and portions of the index. [296] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Works | Hamid Ismailov | – | Novels, poems, journalist writing | Author in exile since 1994 and all his works are banned for being critical of the government. [297] [298] [299] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Animal Farm | George Orwell | 1945 | Political commentary | Vietnamese translations are banned [300] [301] on the grounds of "promoting false socialism ideology" [302] |
1984 | George Orwell | 1949 | Political novella | The book was unable to get certification for publication thus making it banned in Vietnam [303] |
"Mourning Headband for Hue: An Account of the Battle for Hue, Vietnam 1968" | Nha Ca | 1969 | Nonfiction | The book was banned for its criticism of the actions of the national liberation front and for acknowledging the 1968 massacre of 6000 civilians in Huế |
Paradise of the Blind | Dương Thu Hương | 1988 | Novel, Literary fiction | Banned in Vietnam for criticism on the political party in control. [304] |
No Man's Land | Dương Thu Hương | 2005 | Novel, Literary fiction | Banned in Vietnam for criticism of the Vietnamese Communist Party. [305] [306] [307] |
Politics for Everyone (Chính Trị Bình Dân) | Phạm Đoan Trang | 2017 | Non-fiction | Banned in Vietnam on the grounds of political sensitivity. [308] [309] [310] |
Road To Serfdom | Friedrich Hayek | 1944 | Political Philosophy | Banned due to criticism of the socialist state, especially the planned economy which would inevitably lead to totalitarianism. [311] [312] |
A Tale for 2000 (Chuyện Kể Năm 2000) | Bùi Ngọc Tuấn | 2000 | Political Commentary | The author talked about his experience being imprisoned in a "Vietnamese Gulag" for "Anti-revolutionary propaganda" [313] The book was banned with all copies ordered to be destroyed following the Decision No. 395 Regulation of the then Ministry of Culture and Information for violating Clauses 1 and 2 of the Article 33, Publishing Law. Which prohibits works criticising the Vietnamese Communist Party and propaganda going against the interests of the state. [314] [315] [316] |
The Winning Side (Bên Thắng Cuộc) | Huy Đức | 2012 | Non-ficton | Due to publications within Vietnam had refused to publish, the author decided to print himself and released it on Amazon. Although it has not been officially banned, the Vietnamese Government had seized and question those who had them. [317] [318] [319] [320] This book was considered to be significant as it has provided insights that scholars had never seen before, while it had received a lot of criticism from Vietnamese state media. [321] [322] |
A Dusty Wind (Một Cơn Gió Bụi) | Trần Trọng Kim | 2017 | Biography, political commentary | Banned in Vietnam for being "inappropriate, not objective, and containing unverified information" thus violating the Vietnamese Publishing Law, which tends to happen to the biographies of historical characters deemed to be "controversial" [Note 1] by the government. [323] [324] [325] |
Title | Author(s) | Year published | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Nickel-Plated-Feet Gang During the Occupation (Les Pieds nickelés dans le maquis) | Successors of Louis Forton | 1879–1934 | Comic book | Banned in Yugoslavia by court order in 1945. [326] |
About a Silence in Literature | Živorad Stojković | Essay | Banned in Yugoslavia by court order in 1951. [326] [ citation needed ] | |
The New Class: An Analysis of the Communist System (1957) | Milovan Đilas | 1957 | Banned in Yugoslavia by court order in 1957; author sentenced for enemy propaganda to seven years in prison, prolonged to 13 years in 1962. [327] | |
Curved River | Živojin Pavlović | 1963 | Story collection | In 1963 in Yugoslavia withdrawn by the publisher (Nolit) at request of SDB officials. [327] |
Dictionary of Modern Serbo-Croatian Language | Miloš Moskovljević | Dictionary | Banned in Yugoslavia by court order in 1966, at request of Mirko Tepavac, because "some definitions can cause disturbance among citizens". [327] | |
A Message to Man and Humanity | Aleksandar Cvetković | Banned in Yugoslavia by court order in 1967 for "false and wicked claims, and enemy propaganda that supports pro-Chinese politics". [327] | ||
On Fierce Wound – Fierce Herb | Ratko Zakić | Withdrawn from sales and destroyed after the decision of the Municipal Committee of the League of Communists of Kraljevo in Kraljevo, Yugoslavia in 1967. [327] | ||
Thoughts of a Corpse | Prvoslav Vujčić | Poems | Banned in Yugoslavia by court order in 1983; republished in 2004. [326] | |
Storytellers II | Boško Novaković | Short stories | Withdrawn from print in Yugoslavia in 1964 because it contained stories by Dragiša Vasić. [327] | |
Castration of the Wind | Prvoslav Vujčić | Poems | Written in Tuzla prison in 1984. Banned in Yugoslavia by court order in 1984; republished in 2005. [326] |
Fahrenheit 451 is a 1953 dystopian novel by American writer Ray Bradbury. It presents a future American society where books have been outlawed and "firemen" burn any that are found. The novel follows in the viewpoint of Guy Montag, a fireman who soon becomes disillusioned with his role of censoring literature and destroying knowledge, eventually quitting his job and committing himself to the preservation of literary and cultural writings.
Judith Blume is an American writer of children's, young adult, and adult fiction. Blume began writing in 1959 and has published more than 26 novels. Among her best-known works are Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. (1970), Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (1972), Deenie (1973), and Blubber (1974). Blume's books have significantly contributed to children's and young adult literature. She was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2023.
Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band formed in Buffalo, New York, in 1988, now based out of Tampa, Florida.
A Light in the Attic is a book of poems by American poet, writer, and musician Shel Silverstein. The book consists of 135 poems accompanied by illustrations also created by Silverstein. It was first published by Harper & Row Junior Books in 1981 and was a bestseller for months after its publication, but it has also been the subject of controversy regarding some of its content.
Children of Gebelawi is a novel by the Egyptian writer and Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz. Its Egyptian dialectal transliteration is Awlad Haretna. An alternative English title is Children of the Alley.
Andersonville is a novel by MacKinlay Kantor concerning the Confederate prisoner of war camp Andersonville prison during the American Civil War (1861–1865). The novel was originally published in 1955, and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction the following year.
Daddy's Roommate is a children's book written by Michael Willhoite and published by Alyson Books in 1990. One of the first children's books to address the subject of homosexuality, the story follows a young boy whose divorced father now lives with his life partner. The book's depiction of a gay household has led to its inclusion in many educational programs, and Willhoite's work was awarded a Lambda Literary Award in 1991.
Censorship in the People's Republic of China (PRC) is mandated by the country's ruling party, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It is one of the strictest censorship regimes in the world. The government censors content for mainly political reasons, such as curtailing political opposition, and censoring events unfavorable to the CCP, such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, pro-democracy movements in China, the persecution of Uyghurs in China, human rights in Tibet, Falun Gong, pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, and aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since Xi Jinping became the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in 2012, censorship has been "significantly stepped up".
Germany has taken many forms throughout the history of censorship in the country. Various regimes have restricted the press, cinema, literature, and other entertainment venues. In contemporary Germany, the Grundgesetz generally guarantees freedom of press, speech, and opinion.
An expurgation of a work, also known as a bowdlerization, fig-leaf edition or censorship by political correctness is a form of censorship that involves purging anything deemed noxious or offensive from an artistic work or other type of writing or media.
Book censorship is the removal, suppression, or restricted circulation of literary, artistic, or educational material on the grounds that it is objectionable according to the standards applied by the censor. The first instance of book censorship in what is now known as the United States, took place in 1637 in modern-day Quincy, Massachusetts. While specific titles caused bouts of book censorship, with Uncle Tom’s Cabin frequently cited as the first book subject to a national ban, censorship of reading materials and their distribution remained sporadic in the United States until the Comstock Laws in 1873. It was in the early 20th century that book censorship became a more common practice and source of public debate. Throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries there have been waves of attempts at widespread book censorship in the US. Since 2022, the country has seen a dramatic increase of attempted and successful censorship, with a 63% rise in reported cases between 2022 and 2023, including a substantial rise in challenges filed to hundreds of books at a time. In recent years, about three-fourths of books subject to censorship in the US are for children, pre-teenagers, and teenagers.
Book censorship is the act of some authority taking measures to suppress ideas and information within a book. Censorship is "the regulation of free speech and other forms of entrenched authority". Censors typically identify as either a concerned parent, community members who react to a text without reading, or local or national organizations. Books have been censored by authoritarian dictatorships to silence dissent, such as the People's Republic of China, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Books are most often censored for age appropriateness, offensive language, sexual content, amongst other reasons. Similarly, religions may issue lists of banned books, such as the historical example of the Catholic Church's Index Librorum Prohibitorum and bans of such books as Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses by Ayatollah Khomeini, which do not always carry legal force. Censorship can be enacted at the national or subnational level as well, and can carry legal penalties. In many cases, the authors of these books could face harsh sentences, exile from the country, or even execution.
Book censorship in the People's Republic of China (PRC) is mandated by the PRC's ruling party, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and is currently widespread in China. Enforcement is strict and sometimes inconsistent. Punishment for violations can be arbitrary many times leading to long sentences for crimes against censorship laws.
Censorship by Apple refers to Apple Inc.'s removal, omission, or disruption of the spread of content or information from its services or subsidiaries, such as the iTunes Store and the App Store, in order to comply with Apple's company policies, legal demands, or various government censorship laws.
Viet Thanh Nguyen is a South Vietnamese-born American professor and novelist. He is the Aerol Arnold Chair of English and Professor of English and American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California.
Film censorship in China involves the banning of films which are deemed unsuitable for release and it also involves the editing of such films and the removal of content which is objected to by the governments of China. In April 2018, films were reviewed by the China Film Administration (CFA) under the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) which dictates whether, when, and how a movie gets released. The CFA is separate from the National Radio and Television Administration under the State Council.
Chinese censorship abroad refers to extraterritorial censorship by the government of the People's Republic of China, i.e. censorship that is conducted beyond China's own borders. The censorship can be applied to both Chinese expatriates and foreign groups. Sensitive topics that have been censored include the political status of Taiwan, human rights in Tibet, Xinjiang internment camps, the persecution of Uyghurs in China, the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests, the COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China, the PRC government's COVID-19 pandemic response, the persecution of Falun Gong, and more general issues related to human rights and democracy in China.
Canada has banned the sale of two Paladin books, "Kill Without Joy" and "How to Kill I."
The Jungle, 1906 [...] 1956 East Germany-Berlin: Sinclair's works banned as inimical to Communism
[...] Upton Sinclair's [works] were forbidden in 1929 in Yugoslavia, in 1933 in Germany and in 1956 in East Germany.
The novel along with its predecessor were banned in some parts of the Philippines as a result of their portrayals of the Spanish government's abuse and corruption.
Salman Rushdie's novel Satanic Verses was banned in 1989 – as a result of Singapore's mainstream Muslim community taking offence
Period of censorship: June 22, 1973 – January 22, 1993