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 (less often) 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.

Distribution, promotion of, and translations of the Bible have been prohibited or impeded. See Censorship of the Bible.

Many countries throughout the world have their own methods of restricting access to books, although the prohibitions vary strikingly from one country to another.

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 sexGender 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. Libraries sometimes avoid purchasing controversial books, and the personal opinions of librarians have at times affected book selection.

Albania

Argentina

Australia

Austria

Bangladesh

Belgium

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Brazil

Canada

Chile

China

Czechoslovakia

Egypt

El Salvador

Eritrea

France

Germany

Weimar Republic (1918–1933)

Nazi Germany (1933–1945)

East Germany (1949–1990)

West Germany (1949–1990) and Germany (1990–present)

Greece

Guatemala

India

Indonesia

Iran

Ireland

Italy

Japan

Kenya

Kuwait

Lebanon

Liberia

Malaysia

Morocco

Mauritius

Nepal

Netherlands

New Zealand

Nigeria

Norway

Pakistan

Papal States

Papua New Guinea

Philippines

Poland

Portugal

Qatar

Roman Empire

Russia

Saudi Arabia

Senegal

Singapore

South Africa

South Korea

Spain

Sri Lanka

Tanzania

Taiwan

Thailand

United Arab Emirates

United Kingdom

United States

Uzbekistan

Vietnam

Yugoslavia

See also

• Censorship by country

• Criticism of Amazon
• Areopagitica: A speech of Mr John Milton for the liberty of unlicensed printing to the Parliament of England
• Book burning
• Burning of books and burying of scholars
• Challenge (literature)
• International Freedom of Expression Exchange
• List of authors and works on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum
• List of banned films
• List of banned video games
• List of book burning incidents

References

Further reading

• Banned Books, 4 volumes, Facts on File Library of World Literature, 2006.
  • Literature Suppressed on Political Grounds ISBN 0-8160-6270-6
  • Literature Suppressed on Religious Grounds ISBN 0-8160-6269-2
  • Literature Suppressed on Sexual Grounds ISBN 0-8160-6272-2
  • Literature Suppressed on Social Grounds ISBN 0-8160-6271-4
• Academic freedom in Indonesia, Human Rights Watch, 1998
• Paying the price: freedom of expression in Turkey, Lois Whitman, Thomas Froncek, Helsinki Watch, 1989
• Karolides, Nicholas J. (2006). Banned Books: Literature Suppressed on Political Grounds. New York, NY: Facts on File, Inc. ISBN 0-8160-6270-6.
• Darnton, Robert (1996). The Forbidden Best-Sellers of Pre-Revolutionary France. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Co. ISBN 0393314421.

External links

• Beacon For Freedom of Expression
• The Literature Police: Apartheid Censorship and its Cultural Consequences
• New Zealand Office of Film & Literature Classification
• Australia classification board
• UK libraries "Banned books 2011" challenging censorship in literature
• Banned Books That Shaped America
• Banned Books and Prints in Europe and the United States, 17th–20th Centuries