List of books banned by governments

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Banned books are books to which free access is not permitted. The practice of banning books is a form of censorship, and often has political, religious or moral motivations.

Bans on books can be enacted at the national or subnational level, and can carry legal penalties for their infraction. Books may also be challenged at a local, community level. As a result, books can be removed from schools or libraries, although these bans do not extend outside of that area. Similarly, religions may issue lists of banned books – a historical example being the Roman Catholic Church's Index Librorum Prohibitorum – which do not always carry legal force.

Background

"Almost every country places some restrictions on what may be published, although the emphasis and the degree of control differ from country to country and at different periods (1966)."[1]There are a variety of reasons for which books may be banned. Materials are often suppressed due to the perceived notion of obscenity. This obscenity can apply to materials that are about sexuality, race, drugs, or social standing.

Governments have also sought to ban certain books which they perceive to contain material that could threaten, embarrass, or criticize them.[2]

Other leaders outside of the government have banned books, including religious authorities.[3] Church leaders who prohibit members of their faith from reading the banned books may want to shelter them from perceived obscene, immoral, or profane ideas or situations.

But even religious materials have been subject to censorship. For example, various scriptures have been banned (and sometimes burned at several points in history). The Bible, and other religious scriptures have all been subjected to censorship and have been banned by various governments. Similarly, books based on the scriptures have also been banned, such as Leo Tolstoy's The Kingdom of God Is Within You, which was banned in the Russian Empire for being anti-establishment.

Contents

Canada

Banning books is not a common practice in Canada at the current time. While many organizations acknowledge Banned Books Week, the title is something of a misnomer as the programs focus on raising public awareness about challenged, not banned, books. This is a short list of books once banned by various levels of government in Canada. Follow the link on the right to view the main list for more information on each title.

Title Link to Main List
The Hoax of the Twentieth Century[4] List of books banned by governments#H
Lethal Marriage[4] List of books banned by governments#L
Lolita[5]

List of books banned by governments#L
The Naked and the Dead[6]

List of books banned by governments#N
Peyton Place[7]

List of books banned by governments#P
The Turner Diaries[4] List of books banned by governments#T
White Niggers of America[8]

List of books banned by governments#W

Germany

Today

Title Link to Main List
Mein Kampf List of books banned by governments#M
The Turner Diaries[9] List of books banned by governments#T

In the past

Title Link to Main List Time period of banning
All Quiet on the Western Front[10] List of books banned by governments#A Nazi Germany
The Jungle[11] List of books banned by governments#J GDR
The Metamorphosis List of books banned by governments#M Nazi Germany

United States of America

Title Link to Main List
Candide[12] List of books banned by governments#C
The Canterbury Tales[13] List of books banned by governments#C
Catch-22[14] List of books banned by governments#C
The Decameron[15] List of books banned by governments#D
Fanny Hill[10] List of books banned by governments#F
The Federal Mafia[16] List of books banned by governments#F
The Grapes of Wrath[17] List of books banned by governments#G
Lady Chatterley's Lover[18] List of books banned by governments#L
The Meritorious Price of Our Redemption[19] List of books banned by governments#M
Moll Flanders[20] List of books banned by governments#M
Naked Lunch[21] List of books banned by governments#N
Operation Dark Heart[22] List of books banned by governments#O
Tropic of Cancer[23] List of books banned by governments#T
Ulysses[24] List of books banned by governments#U
Uncle Tom's Cabin[25] List of books banned by governments#U
United States – Vietnam Relations: 1945–1967[26] List of books banned by governments#U

Alphabetical list

This literature-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.


Contents: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

Title Author Type of Literature Reason
About a Silence in Literature Živorad Stojković Essay Banned in Yugoslavia by court order in 1951.[27]
A Feast for the Seaweeds (1983) Haidar Haidar 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.[28][29][30]
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) Lewis Carroll Children's Novel/Adventure Used to be banned in the province of Hunan, China, beginning in 1931 for its portrayal of anthropomorphized animals acting on 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 regard humans and animals on the same level, which would be "disastrous."[31]
All Quiet on the Western Front (1929) Erich Maria Remarque Anti-war novel Banned in Nazi Germany for being demoralizing and insulting to the Wehrmacht.[10]
American Psycho (1991) Bret Easton Ellis Fiction 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.[32]
Angaray (1932) Sajjad Zaheer Progressive short stories Banned in India in 1936 by the British government.[33]
Animal Farm (1945) George Orwell Political novella During 1943 - 45, Allied forces found this entire book to be critical of the U.S.S.R., and therefore the text was considered to be too controversial to print during wartime. Publishers were reluctant to print the novel then. A play of Animal Farm was banned in Kenya in 1991, because it criticizes corrupt leaders.[25] In 2002, the novel was banned in the schools of the United Arab Emirates, because it contained text or images that goes against Islamic values, most notably the occurrence of an anthropomorphic, talking pig.[25]
Areopagitica (1644) John Milton Essay Banned in the Kingdom of England for political reasons.[34]
A Spoon on Earth Hyeon Gi-yeong Novel Banned for distribution within the South Korean military as one of 23 books banned there beginning on Aug 1, 2008.[35]

B

Title Author Type of Literature Reason
Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism (2008) Ha-Joon Chang Non-Fiction One of 23 books from Aug 1st 2008 Banned for distribution in South Korean military.[35]
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.[36]
Black Beauty (1877) Anna Sewell Novel It is a popular misconception that it was banned in South Africa during the apartheid era for having the word "black" in its title.[37]
Borstal Boy (1958) Brendan Behan 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. It was banned in Australia and New Zealand shortly after. It was allowed to be published in New Zealand in 1963.[38]
Brave New World (1932) Aldous Huxley Novel Banned in Ireland in 1932, due to alleged references of sexual promiscuity.[39]
Burger's Daughter (1979) Nadine Gordimer 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.[25]

C

Title Author Type of Literature Reason
Candide (1759) Voltaire Novel Seized by US Customs in 1930 for obscenity.[12]
The Canterbury Tales (late 14th century) Geoffrey Chaucer Story Collection Banned from the U.S. 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.[40]
Catch-22 (1961) Joseph Heller Novel Banned in several states: in 1972, it was banned in Srongsville, Ohio (overturned in 1976); in 1974, it was banned in Dallas, Texas, and in 1979 it was banned in Snoqualmie, Washington.[41]
The Country Girls (1960) Edna O'Brien Novel Banned by Ireland's censorship board in 1960 for its explicit sexual content.[42][43]
Curved River (1963) Živojin Pavlović story collection In 1963 in Yugoslavia withdrawn by the publisher (Nolit) at request of SDB officials.[44]

D

Title Author Type of Literature Reason
The Da Vinci Code (2003) Dan Brown Novel Banned in Lebanon after Catholic leaders deemed it offensive to Christianity. (See Inaccuracies in The Da Vinci Code.)[45]
The Death of Lorca (1971) Ian Gibson Biography, True crime Banned briefly in Spain.[46]
The Decameron (1350-1353) Giovanni Boccaccio Allegory Banned from the U.S. 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.[47]
The Diary of Anne Frank (1947) Anne Frank Biography Banned in Lebanon for "portray[ing] Jews, Israel or Zionism favorably".[48]
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".[44]
Doctor Zhivago (1957) Boris Pasternak Novel Banned within the U.S.S.R until 1988 for its anti-war theme for the Russian Civil War, and criticism and Stalinism.
Droll Stories (1832-37) Honoré de Balzac Banned for obscene material of a sexual nature in Canada in 1914 and Ireland in 1953, the ban was lifted in Ireland in 1967.[49][18]
The Devil's Discus (1964) Rayne Kruger Banned in Thailand in 2006[50]

E

Title Author Type of Literature Reason
El Señor Presidente (1946) Miguel Ángel Asturias Novel Banned in Guatemala because it went against the ruling political leaders.[51]

F

Title Author Type of Literature Reason
Fanny Hill or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (1748) John Cleland Novel Banned in the U.S.A. in 1821 for obscenity, then again in 1963. This was the last book ever banned in the U.S.A.[10] See also Memoirs v. Massachusetts.
The Federal Mafia (1992) Irwin Schiff Nonfiction An injunction was issued by a U.S. 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.[52]
Frankenstein (1818) Mary Shelley Novel Banned in apartheid South Africa in 1955 for containing "obscene" or "indecent" material.[53]
The Fugitive (Perburuan) (1950) Pramoedya Ananta Toer 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.[25]
The First Circle (1968) Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Novel Banned in the Soviet Union for the negative portrayal of Joseph Stalin.

G

Title Author Type of Literature Reason
The Grapes of Wrath (1939) John Steinbeck Novel Was temporarily banned in many places in the US. In the region of California in which it was partially set, it was banned for its alleged unflattering portrayal of area residents.[54]
Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle With India (2011) Joseph Lelyveld Biography Is currently banned in Gujarat, a state in western India, for suggesting that Mahatma Gandhi had a homosexual relationship. Gujarat's state assembly voted unanimously in favour of the ban in April, 2011.[55]
The Gulag Archipelago (1973) Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Nonfiction Banned in the Soviet Union because it went against the image the Soviet Government tried to project of itself and its policies.[56] However available to public in the 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.[57]

H

Title Author Type of Literature Reason
How to make disposable silencers (1984) Desert and Eliezer Flores How to An example of a class of books banned in Australia that "promote, incite or instruct in matters of crime or violence".[58][59]
Howl (1955) Allen Ginsberg Poem Copies of the first edition seized by San Francisco Customs for obscenity in March 1957; after trial, obscenity charges were dismissed.[60]
The Hoax of the Twentieth Century Arthur Butz Non-fiction Classified as "hate literature" in Canada with RCMP destroying copies as recently as 1995.[4]

I

Title Author Type of Literature Reason
Islam - A Concept of Political World Invasion (2003) R. V. Bhasin Political Ideology Banned in Maharashtra, India in 2007, after its publishing on grounds that it promotes communal disharmony between Hindus and Muslims.[61][62]

J

Title Author Type of Literature Reason
July's People (1981) Nadine Gordimer Novel Banned during the Apartheid-era in South Africa.[63] July's People is now included in the South African school curriculum.[64]
Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence (2009) Jaswant Singh Biography Temporarily banned in Gujarat, India in August 2009.[65] The ban was overturned by the Gujarat High Court in December 2009.[66]
Jinnah of Pakistan (1982) Stanley Wolpert Biography Banned in Pakistan for recounting Jinnah’s taste for wine and pork.[67]
Jæger – i krig med eliten (2009) Thomas Rathsack Autobiography The Danish military tried to ban the book September 2009 for national security reasons; a court rejected the ban as the book was already leaked in the press and on the Internet.[68]
The Jungle (1906) Upton Sinclair Novel In 1956, it was banned in East Germany for its incompatibility with Communism.[11]

K

Title Author Type of Literature Reason
The King Never Smiles (2006) Paul M. Handley Biography Banned in Thailand for its criticism of King Bhumibol Adulyadej.[69]

L

Title Author Type of Literature Reason
Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928) D. H. Lawrence Novel Temporarily banned in the United States and the United Kingdom for violation of obscenity laws; both bans were lifted in 1959 and 1960, respectively.[18]

Temporarily banned in Australia.[70]
Lajja (1993) Taslima Nasrin Novel Banned in Bangladesh,[71][72] and a few states of India.
Lethal Marriage Nick Pron True Crime Written by a newspaper reporter 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.[4] As recently as 1999 this book was still unavailable to public library patrons in St. Catherines.[4]
Little Black Sambo (1899) Helen Bannerman Children's Book Banned in Japan (1988–2005) to quell "political threats to boycott Japanese cultural exports", although the pictures were not those of the original version.[73]
Lolita (1955) Vladimir Nabokov Novel French officials banned it for being "obscene," as did the United Kingdom, Argentina, New Zealand (uncensored 1964) and South Africa.[74]

Banned in Canada in 1958, though the ban was later lifted.[5]
The Lonely Girl (1962) Edna O'Brien Novel Banned in Ireland in 1962 after Archbishop John Charles McQuaid complained personally to Justice Minister Charles Haughey that it "was particularly bad".[43]
The Lottery (1948) Shirley Jackson Short Story Banned in South Africa during Apartheid.[75]
Lysistrata (411 BC) Aristophanes Script Banned in 1967 in Greece because of its anti-war message.[76]

M

Title Author Type of Literature Reason
Madame Bovary (1856) Gustave Flaubert Novel Flaubert's novel was banned and he was prosecuted for "offenses against public morals".[77]
Mein Kampf (1925) Adolf Hitler Political ideology Banned in some European nations and the Russian Federation as extremist.[78]

In Germany, the copyright of the book is claimed by the Free State of Bavaria and Bavarian authorities to prevent any re-printing. It is legal to own or distribute existing copies.

In Austria, the Verbotsgesetz 1947 prohibits the printing of the book. It is illegal to own or distribute existing copies.[79] The law (§ 3 d.) states that, "Whoever publicly or before several people, through the printing of disseminated writings or illustrations to one of under § 1 or § 3 prohibited acts requests, strives or seeks to induce others, especially for the purpose of glorifying or advertising the aims of the Nazi Party, its institutions or measures, provided that it does not constitute a serious criminal offense, will be punished with imprisonment from five to ten years, or up to twenty years for offenders who themselves or their actions are deemed especially dangerous."
The Meritorious Price of Our Redemption (1650) William Pynchon Religious ideology The first book banned in the New World (1650.) Pynchon, a prominent leader of the Massachusetts Bay Colony who, in 1636, founded the City of Springfield, Massachusetts beside the great Connecticut River, wrote this explicit criticism 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. Trivia: firsts work banned in Boston.[80]
My Secret Life "Walter" (pseudonym) Novel Erotic novel purporting to chronicle the wild private sex life of a Victorian gentleman.
The Metamorphosis (1915) Franz Kafka Novel Banned in Nazi Germany.
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".[44]
Mirror of the Polish Crown (1618) Sebastian Miczyński Anti-Semitic pamphlet Because this pamphlet published in 1618 was one of the causes of the anti-Jewish riots in Cracow, it was banned by Sigismund III Vasa.[81]
Moll Flanders or The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders (1722) Daniel Defoe Novel Banned from the U.S. 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.[82]
The Mountain Wreath (1847) Petar II Petrović-Njegoš Drama in verse Banned in Bosnia schools by Carlos Westendorp.[83]
Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan's Military Economy (2007) Ayesha Siddiqa Novel Banned by the government of Pakistan for a short period due to political matters.

N

Title Author Type of Literature Reason
Naked Lunch (1959) William S. Burroughs Novel Banned by Boston courts in 1962 for obscenity, but that decision was reversed in 1966 by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.[84]
New Class (1957) Milovan Đilas Banned in Yugoslavia by court order in 1957; author sentenced for enemy propaganda to seven years in prison, prolonged to 13 years in 1962.[44]
The Nickel-Plated-Feet Gang During the Occupation Successors of Louis Forton (1879-1934) comic book Banned in Yugoslavia by court order in 1945.[27]
Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) George Orwell Novel Banned by the Soviet Union in 1950, as Stalin understood that it was a satire based on his leadership. It was nearly banned by U.S.A. and UK in the early 1960s during the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was not until 1990 that the U.S.S.R. legalised the book and it was re-released after editing.[85]
Notre ami le roi (1993) Gilles Perrault 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.[86]
Not Without My Daughter (1991) Betty Mahmoody Novel Banned in Iran. It is a real life story of an American citizen's escape along with her daughter from the clutches of her husband in Iran. It created furor in Iran for showing the general conditions there in bad light as well as for being critical of Iranian customs.
Nine Hours To Rama (1962) Stanley Wolpert Novel Banned in India. It exposes persons responsible for security lapses that led to Mohandas Gandhi's assassination.
The Naked and the Dead (1948) Norman Mailer Novel Banned in Canada in 1949 for "obscenity."[87]

O

Title Author Type of Literature Reason
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.[44]
On the Origins and Perpetual Use of the Legislative Powers of the Apostolic Kings of Hungary in Matters Ecclesiastical. (1764) Adam F. Kollár Legal-political Banned by the Vatican for arguments against the political role of the Roman Catholic Church.[88] Original title: De Originibus et Usu perpetuo.
One Day of Life (1980) Manlio Argueta Novel Banned by El Salvador for its portrayal of human rights violations.[89]
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1962) Alexander Solzhenitsyn Novel Banned from publication in the Soviet Union in 1964.[25]
Operation Dark Heart (2010) Army Reserve Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer Memoir In September 2010 the U.S. Department of Defense 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 the integrity of U.S. National Security. The publisher, St. Martin's Press,[90] in conjunction with the DoD created a censored second edition; which contains blackened out words, lines, paragraphs, and even portions of the index.[91]

P

Title Author Type of Literature Reason
The Peaceful Pill Handbook (2007) Philip Nitschke and Fiona Stewart Instructional manual on euthanasia Initially banned in New Zealand by Office of Film & Literature Classification since it was deemed to be objectionable.[92] In May 2008 an edited version of the book was allowed for sale if sealed and an indication of the censorship classification was displayed. The book was initially restricted in Australia:[93] after review the 2007 edition was banned outright.[59][94][95]
Peyton Place (1956) Grace Metalious Novel Banned in Canada from 1956- 1958.[96]

Q

Title Author Type of Literature Reason

R

Title Author Type of Literature Reason
Race, Evolution, and Behavior (1995) J. Philippe Rushton Non-Fiction Canada Customs seized and withheld copies of one shipment of the book for nine months while they tried to decide whether to ban it for being "hate literature".[97]
Rangila Rasul (1927) Pt. Chamupati Religious Currently banned in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.[98]
Rights of Man (1791) Thomas Paine Political Banned in the U.K and author charged with treason for supporting the French Revolution.[12] Banned in Tsarist Russia after the Decembrist revolt.[99]
Rowena Goes Too Far (1931) H. C. Asterley Fiction Banned in Australia due to customs belief that it “lacked sufficient claim to the literary to excuse the obscenity”[100]

S

Title Author Type of Literature Reason
The Satanic Verses (1988) Salman Rushdie Novel Banned in the following countries for alleged blasphemy against Islam: Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Iran, Kenya, Kuwait, Liberia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Pakistan, Senegal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and Thailand.[101][102]
Snorri the Seal (1941) Frithjof Sælen Fable Satirical book banned during the German occupation of Norway.[103]
Soft Target: How the Indian Intelligence Service Penetrated Canada (1989) Zuhair Kashmeri & Brian McAndrew Investigative journalism Banned in India.[104]
The Song of the Red Ruby (1956) Agnar Mykle Novel Banned in Norway in 1957 for its explicit sexual content. The ban was lifted by the Supreme Court in 1958.
Smash and Grab: Annexation of Sikkim (1984) Sunanda Datta-Ray Non-fiction Banned in India by government-sponsored legal harassment and unavailable for sale anywhere in the world. Describes the process of the annexation of the independent Buddhist kingdom of Sikkim by the Indian government of Indira Gandhi in 1975.
Spycatcher (1985) Peter Wright Autobiography Banned in the U.K 1985-1988 for revealing secrets. Wright was a former MI5 intelligence officer and his book was banned before it was even published in 1987.[105][106]
Storytellers II Boško Novaković Story collection Withdrawn from print in Yugoslavia in 1964 because it contained stories by Dragiša Vasić.[44]
Suicide mode d'emploi (1982) Claude Guillon Essay 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.[107] Subsequent reprints were thus illegal. The book was cited by name in the debates of the French National Assembly when examining the bill.[108]

T

Title Author Type of Literature Reason
Thalia Arius (AD 250 or 256 – 336) Book/Poem 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.[109] Banned by the Catholic Church for the next thousand plus years.
The True Furqan (1999) "Al Saffee" and "Al Mahdee" Religious text Import into India prohibited on the grounds of threatening national security.[110]
Tropic of Cancer (1934) Henry Miller Novel (fictionalized memoir) Banned in the U.S.A in the 1930s until the early 1960s, seized by US Customs for sexually explicit content and vulgarity. The rest of Miller's work was also banned by the United States.[111] Also banned in South Africa until the late 1980s.
The Turner Diaries (1978) William Luther Pierce Novel Banned in Germany for its Nazi ideology theme and Pierce leadership in the National Alliance. Blamed for a number of crimes allegedly inspired by the novel.[112] Also effectively banned in Canada as recently as 1996 with Canada Customs turning back shipments at the border.[4] Presumably this is because Canada bans the importation of material meeting their definition of "hate propaganda."[113]

U

Title Author Type of Literature Reason
Ulysses (1922) James Joyce Novel Banned in UK during the 1930s and in Australia during the 1930s and 1940s. Challenged and temporarily banned in the U.S.A for its sexual content. In 1933 the ban was overturned in United States v. One Book Called Ulysses.[114]
Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) Harriet Beecher Stowe Novel Banned in the Southern United States during the Civil War due to its anti-slavery content. In 1852, Uncle Tom's Cabin was banned in Russia under the reign of Nicholas I due to the idea of equality it presented, and for its "undermining religious ideals."[25]
Understanding Islam through Hadis (1982) Ram Swarup Critique of political Islam Banned in India.[115]
United States – Vietnam Relations: 1945–1967 (1971) Robert McNamara and the United States Department of Defense 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.[116] See also New York Times Co. v. United States.
Uten en tråd (1966) Jens Bjørneboe Novel Published in 1966, banned in Norway for its explicit sexual content. The ban was later lifted.
Unarmed Victory (1963) Bertrand Russell Banned in India. Contains unflattering details of the 1962 Sino-Indian War.

V

Title Author Type of Literature Reason
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."[117]

W

Title Author Type of Literature Reason
Watershed Čeda Vuković Self-banned by the publisher Nolit in Yugoslavia in 1968.[44]
The Well of Loneliness (1928) Radclyffe Hall Novel Banned in the U.K in 1928 for its lesbian theme, republished in 1949.[118]
White Niggers of America (1970) Pierre Vallières Political work Written about Quebec politics and society, was written while the author was in jail. An edition published in France was not allowed into Canada; an edition was published in the U.S. in 1971[119]

Y

Title Author Type of Literature Reason
Year 501: The Conquest Continues (1993) Noam Chomsky Politics Banned for distribution in South Korean military as one of 23 books banned on August 1, 2008.[35]

Z

Title Author Type of Literature Reason
Zhuan Falun (1993) Li Hongzhi Spiritual Banned in Mainland China[120]

See also

Further reading

References

  1. ^ A.H. McLintock, An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand: Censorship of Books
  2. ^ Skold, Walter. "Ray Bradbury Condemns Cuban Book Burning; 'Fahrenheit 451' Author Takes Stance While U.S. Librarians Ignore Counterparts". WorldNetDaily. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45050. Retrieved 10 Jan 2009. "Among some of the many thousands of materials burned or destroyed by the Cuban Department of Interior were books on the United States Constitution, Martin Luther King, Jr., journalism manuals, a book called 'Fidel's Secret Wars,' and in one case, even a book by José Martí, the Cuban hero of independence beloved by most Cubans and often quoted by Castro." 
  3. ^ "Index Librorum Prohibitorum". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Challenged Books and Magazines List". Freedom to Read. (Current as of 2011-02). http://www.freedomtoread.ca/censorship_in_canada/challenged_books.asp. Retrieved October 21, 2011. 
  5. ^ a b British Columbia Library Association Intellectual Freedom Committee (October 9, 2009). "Censorship in British Columbia: A History. 1950-1959". Vancouver, BC,Canada: British Columbia Library Association. http://www.bcla.bc.ca/ifc/Censorship%20BC/1950.html. Retrieved 10 November 2011. 
  6. ^ Carefoote, Pearce J.. "Censorship in Canada". Unversity of Toronto. http://hpcanpub.mcmaster.ca/case-study/censorship-canada. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
  7. ^ {{cite web http://www.bcla.bc.ca/ifc/Censorship%20BC/1950.html}}
  8. ^ "Bannings and Burnings in History". freedomtoread.ca. http://www.freedomtoread.ca/links_and_resources/bannings_and_burnings.asp. Retrieved 18 oct 2011. 
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