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.
Many countries throughout the world have their own methods of restricting access to books, although the prohibitions vary strikingly from one country to another.Template: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 depictions of LGBTQ+ individuals, likeGender 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.<ref>Peter Fryer, Private Case, Public Scandal, London, Secker & Warburg, 1966.</ref> 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.
Template:See also
The distribution, promotion of different Bible versions and verses or translation seen as incorrect that have been prohibited or impeded throughout its history. 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. In most cases this was related to them being viewed as incorrect and different from the accepted canon within the religion but there are also examples of the distribution and promotion of the Bible and the religion being banned in general and are ongoing in various jurisdictions.
Banned by the Australian Government in 1957 for obscenity.<ref>University of Melbourne (2013). Banned Books in Australia – A Special Collections-Art in the Library Exhibition." "[1]", Retrieved June 12, 2014</ref>
First edition published as a novel, second edition banned by the military censor in Australia under regulations of the War Precautions Act 1914.<ref>Susanna & Jake de Vries (2007). To Hell And Back. NSW : HarperCollins</ref>
Banned in Australia because of customs belief that it "lacked sufficient claim to the literary to excuse the obscenity"<ref>[2]Template:Dead link. Luciusbooks.com. Retrieved on 2011-01-10.</ref>
Banned by Australia in 1945 as "a collection of bawdiness, amounting to sex obsession."<ref name="Forever Amber independent.co.uk">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Forever Amber naa.gov.au">Template:Cite web</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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"<ref name="unimelb1">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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".<ref>[3]Template:Dead link</ref><ref name="oflc.gov.au">Classification Review Board. Review meeting: February 7, 2007; Decision meeting: February 24, 2007. Australian Government</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Banned by the New South WalesDepartment 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."<ref name=Piccoli>Template:Cite web</ref> The ban was lifted May 18, 2015.
Banned by the New South WalesDepartment 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."<ref name=Piccoli /> The ban was lifted May 18, 2015.
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".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Banned by the authorities in the Austrian territories ruled by the Habsburg monarchy.<ref name="austria">"Austria", in Green, Jonathon, and Karolides, Nicholas, J. Encyclopedia of Censorship. New York : Facts On File, 2005. Template:ISBN (pgs. 36–38)</ref>
In Austria, the Verbotsgesetz 1947 prohibits the printing of the book. It is illegal to ownTemplate:Citation needed or distribute existing copies.<ref name="Verbotsgesetz 1947">Template:Cite web</ref> 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."<ref name="Verbotsgesetz 1947" />
Currently banned in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.<ref name=jalal>Self and Sovereignty: Individual and Community in South Asian Islam Since 1850 by Ayesha Jalal</ref>
Banned in Bangladesh,<ref>Bangladesh Seeks Writer, Charging She Insults IslamNew York Times, June 8, 1994.</ref><ref>Book ReviewNew York Times, August 28, 1994.</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Utal Hawa (Wild Wind), the second part of her memoir, was banned by the Bangladesh government in 2002.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The decision to ban the book was criticised by "a host of authors" in West Bengal,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but the ban was not lifted until 2005.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Sei Sob Ondhokar (Those Dark Days), the fourth part of her memoir, was banned by the Bangladesh government in 2004.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="oglobo">Template:Cite web</ref>
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.
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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Lolita in BC">Template:Cite web</ref>
Classified as "hate literature" in Canada and subsequently banned from import into the country.<ref name="Freedom to Read" />
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.<ref name="Freedom to Read"/> As recently as 1999 this book was still unavailable to public library patrons in St. Catharines.<ref name="Freedom to Read"/>
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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Banned in Pinochet's Chile. The Chilean army publicly burned copies of the book.<ref>Tomlinson, John (1991), "Reading Donald Duck: the ideology-critique of 'the imperialist text'", in Cultural Imperialism: A Critical Introduction, Continuum International Publishing Group, Template:ISBN (pgs. 41–45).</ref>
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.<ref>Al-Ahram Weekly | Culture|Off the shelf – and then where?Template:Webarchive. Weekly.ahram.org.eg (February 7, 2001). Retrieved on 2010-05-09.</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
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.<ref>Loi n°87-1133 du 31 décembre 1987 tendant à réprimer la provocation au suicide</ref> Subsequent reprints were thus illegal. The book was cited by name in the debates of the French National Assembly when examining the bill.<ref>Proceedings of the French National Assembly, December 14, 1987, first sitting (in French). assemblee-nationale.fr</ref>
Prohibited by Nazi Germany for featuring Jewish characters.<ref name="rje">Evans, Richard J., The Third Reich in Power, 1933–1939. London : Allen Lane, 2008. Template:ISBN (pg. 158).</ref>
Prohibited by several countries, including Nazi Germany.<ref name=haight-1955>Anne Lyon Haight, Banned books: informal notes on some books banned for various reasons at various times and in various places. R.R. Bowker, 1955(p. 60).</ref>
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.<ref>Patrick Parrinder and John S. Partington, The reception of H.G. Wells in Europe.
London : Thoemmes continuum, 2005. Template:ISBN (p.108)</ref>
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.<ref>https://www.bzkj.de/bzkj/indizierung/was-bewirkt-die-indizierung/traegermedien/traegermedien-175570</ref>
List of books confiscated for violating Criminal Code 86, 86a, 130 or 130a
Confiscated by the Mannheim Regional Court in September 2012.<ref>Einziehungsbeschluss des LG Mannheim vom 27.09.2012, Az.: 12 Ns 503 Js 14219/08</ref> Unofficial title translation: Auschwitz, The First Gassing, Rumors and Reality
Auschwitz - Tätergeständnisse und Augenzeugen des Holocaust
Confiscated by the Mannheim Regional Court in November 1994.<ref>Beschlagnahmebeschluss des AG Mannheim vom 28. November 1994, Az.: 41Gs 2626/94</ref> Unofficial title translation: Auschwitz - Confessions of Perpetrators and Eyewitnesses of the Holocaust
Confiscated by the Stuttgart Regional Court in May 1982.<ref>Einziehungsbeschluss des LG Stuttgart vom 7. Mai 1982, Az.: KLs 315/80; bestätigt: BGH vom 26. January 1983, Az.: 3 StR 414/82</ref> Unofficial title translation: The Auschwitz Myth - Legend or Reality
Balisong - The Lethal Art of Filipino Knife Fighting
Confiscated by the Darmstadt Regional Court in March 2018.<ref>Einziehungsbeschluss des AG Darmstadt vom 1. März 2018, Az.: 218 Gs - 1000 Js 36024/17</ref> Unofficial title translation: The Chemistry of Auschwitz - The Technology and Toxicology of Zyklon B and the Gas Chambers - A Crime Scene Investigation
Confiscated by the Weinheim Regional Court in September 1993.<ref>Beschlagnahmebeschluss des AG Weinheim vom 1. September 1993, Az.: 5 Gs 176/93</ref> Unofficial title translation: The Holocaust under scrutiny - eyewitness accounts versus natural laws
Confiscated by the Weinheim Regional Court in September 1993.<ref>Beschlagnahmebeschluss des AG Weinheim vom 1. September 1993, Az.: 5 Gs 176/93</ref> Unofficial title translation: The Holocaust Hoax
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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> An uncommented reprint was confiscated by the Forchheim Regional Court in October 2016 for Incitement of masses.<ref>Einziehungsbeschluss des AG Forchheim vom 27. Oktober 2016, Az. 1 Ds 1108 Js 6660/16</ref><ref>https://fragdenstaat.de/anfrage/indizierung-zur-adolf-hitler-mein-kampf/</ref> Annotated editions are not affected by the confiscation.
Confiscated by the Mannheim Regional Court in January 1996.<ref>Beschlagnahmebeschluss des AG Mannheim vom 29.01.1996, Az.: 41 Gs 94/96</ref> Unofficial title translation: Cause of death: Contemporary history research
Vorlesungen über den Holocaust - Strittige Fragen im Kreuzverhör
Confiscated by the Mannheim Regional Court in March 2007.<ref>LG Mannheim, Einziehungsbeschluss vom 15. März 2007, Az.: 2 KLs 503 Js 17319/01</ref> Unofficial title translation: Lectures on the Holocaust - Controversial Questions in Cross-Examination
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.<ref>Gunther, John. Inside Latin America (1941), p. 124</ref>
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.<ref name="karolides"/>
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.
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.<ref>Gilbert, J.T., History of the City of Dublin (1854). Volume III, p. 66.</ref>
The English translations of Sholokhov's work were banned for "indecency".<ref name="hss">Hannah Sheehy Skeffington, "Censorship in Eire". The Saturday Review, March 18, 1939, p. 14</ref>
Banned in Ireland.<ref name="kw">Woodman, Kieran. Media Control in Ireland, 1923–1983.Carbondale : Southern Illinois University Press, 1986. Template:ISBN (pgs. 67–68)</ref>
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.<ref name="Borstal Boy thefileroom.org"/>
Banned by Ireland's censorship board in 1960 for its explicit sexual content.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=dwyerexaminer>Template:Cite news</ref>
Banned in Ireland in 1962 after Archbishop John Charles McQuaid complained personally to Justice Minister Charles Haughey that it "was particularly bad".<ref name=dwyerexaminer/>
Banned in Fascist Italy because of its antimilitarism (currently not banned).<ref>"All Quiet on the Western Front", in Green, Jonathon, and Karolides, Nicholas, J. Encyclopedia of Censorship. New York : Facts On File, 2005. Template:ISBN (pgs. 10–12)</ref>
Banned in Fascist Italy for depicting the Italian Army's defeat at the Battle of Caporetto (currently this book is not banned).<ref>"Hemingway, Ernest", in Green, Jonathon, and Karolides, Nicholas, J. Encyclopedia of Censorship. New York : Facts On File, 2005. Template:ISBN (pgs.231)</ref>
Banned in Japan (1988–2005) to quell "political threats to boycott Japanese cultural exports", although the pictures were not those of the original version.<ref name="sambo">Template:Cite web</ref>
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.<ref name=BERNAMA>Template:Cite news</ref>
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".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Peichi (Tamil: ''பேய்ச்சி'')
Ma. Naveen
2020
Novel
Banned for containing pornographic and immoral content.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Notably, it was the first Tamil language publication to be banned in the country.
A Million Kisses in Your Lifetime
Monica Murphy
2022
Novel
The ministry explained on the 7th of January 2025 that the ban is part of a preventive measure to stop the spread of ideologies and movements that conflict with Malaysia’s multicultural values.
Lose You to Find Me
Erik J Brown
2023
Novel
The ministry explained on the 7th of January 2025 that the ban is part of a preventive measure to stop the spread of ideologies and movements that conflict with Malaysia’s multicultural values.
Punai
Asyraf Bakti
2022
Novel
The ministry explained on the 7th of January 2025 that the ban is part of a preventive measure to stop the spread of ideologies and movements that conflict with Malaysia’s multicultural values.
Scattered Showers
Rainbow Rowell
2022
Novel
The ministry explained on the 7th of January 2025 that the ban is part of a preventive measure to stop the spread of ideologies and movements that conflict with Malaysia’s multicultural values.
When Everything Feels Like The Movie
Raziel Reid
2014
Novel
The ministry explained on the 7th of January 2025 that the ban is part of a preventive measure to stop the spread of ideologies and movements that conflict with Malaysia’s multicultural values.
What If It's Us
Becky Albertalli and Adam Silverra
2018
Novel
The ministry explained on the 7th of January 2025 that the ban is part of a preventive measure to stop the spread of ideologies and movements that conflict with Malaysia’s multicultural values.
My Shadow is Purple
Scott Stuart
2022
Fiction
Banned for attempting to promote homosexual culture in Malaysia, which goes against religious and cultural sensitivities in the country. The home ministry said these books have been banned under Section 7(1) of Act 301 as they are considered ‘undesirable publications’ on the 21st of January 2025, and was later publicly announced on the 8th of February.
Koleksi Puisi Masturbasi
Benz Ali
2015
Poetry
Banned for its suggestive name and immoral content. The home ministry said these books have been banned under Section 7(1) of Act 301 as they are considered ‘undesirable publications’ on the 22nd of January 2025, and was later publicly announced on the 8th of February.
All That's Left in the World
Erik J Brown
2022
Novel
Banned for attempting to promote homosexual culture in Malaysia, which goes against religious and cultural sensitivities in the country. The home ministry said these books have been banned under Section 7(1) of Act 301 as they are considered ‘undesirable publications’ on the 22nd of January 2025, and was later publicly announced on the 8th of February.
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.<ref>Notre ami le roi par Gilles Perrault. Bibliomonde.com. Retrieved on 2012-01-21.</ref>
Initially banned in New Zealand by Office of Film & Literature Classification since it was deemed to be objectionable.<ref>Office of Film & Literature ClassificationTemplate:Webarchive – "The Peaceful Pill Handbook banned"</ref> In May 2008 an edited version of the book was allowed for sale if sealed and an indication of the censorship classification was displayed.
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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Swami Dayananda's religious text Satyarth Prakash was banned in some princely states and in Sindh in 1944 and is still banned in Sindh.<ref>The Book on Trial: Fundamentalism and Censorship in India, Girja Kumar</ref>
Banned in 1984 by the military dictator Zia-ul-Haq's government because of some 'offending passages'. Ban lifted in 1989 by the next democratic government.<ref name="Bring Back Jinnah's Pakistan">Template:Cite news</ref>
On December 20, 2006, the government of Pakistan announced a ban on Spencer's book, citing "objectionable material" as the cause.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Banned in the Papal States for arguments against the political role of the Roman Catholic Church.<ref>Andor Csizmadia, Adam Franz Kollár und die ungarische rechtshistorische Forschung. 1982.</ref> Original title: De Originibus et Usu perpetuo.
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.<ref name="martiallawPHban"/>
Tawid diwa sa pananagisag ni Bienvenido Lumbera: Ang Bayan, ang Nanunulat at ang Magasing Sagisag sa Imahinatibong Yugto ng Batas Militar 1975–1979
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.<ref name="kwf-order"/>
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<ref name="kwf-order"/>
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.<ref name="ringenblum">Template:Cite book</ref>
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".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
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.<ref name="Kramer">Template:Cite news</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Banned by the Catholic Church for the next thousand plus years.Template:Citation needed
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.<ref>Sineokaya, Y. (2018) The prohibited Nietzsche: anti‑Nitzscheanism in Soviet Russia. Studies in East European Thought. Springer Nature B.V. 2018.</ref>
Prohibited by the Tsarist Russian censors.<ref>Sylvia E. Bowman, Edward Bellamy abroad: An American Prophet's Influence. New York, Twayne Publishers, 1962 (pg. 70–78).</ref>
Banned in the Russian Federation as extremist.<ref>Федеральный список экстремистских материалов. (Federal list of extremist materials), item 604. (in Russian). minjust.ru</ref>
Banned by the Soviet Union<ref name="telegraph.co.uk"/> 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
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.<ref name="telegraph.co.uk"/>
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.<ref>"Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn." The Columbia Encyclopedia. 6th ed. 2011.</ref>
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.
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.Template:Citation needed
Banned under the Internal Security (Prohibition of Publications) (Consolidation) Order.<ref name="prohibitionsingapore">Template:Singapore legislation</ref>
Banned in South Africa because of its criticism of white supremacy.<ref name="dj">Jones, Derek, Censorship : A World Encyclopedia. London : Routledge, 2015. Template:ISBN (p. 2008)</ref>
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.<ref name="karolides"/>
Banned during the Apartheid-era in South Africa.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> July's People is now included in the South African school curriculum.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Banned by Habsburg Monarchy of Spain for perceived heresy.<ref>Patrick Bonner (ed.), Change and Continuity in Early Modern Cosmology. New York : Springer, Template:ISBN (p. 44)</ref>
Voltaire's entire body of work was banned by the Bourbon Monarchy of Spain, after it was condemned by the Spanish Inquisition.<ref>David Thatcher Gies, The Cambridge history of Spanish literature New York : Cambridge University Press, 2009. Template:ISBN (pg. 302)</ref>
All of Blasco Ibáñez's books were banned by the Franco government in 1939.<ref>Herbert Rutledge Southworth, Spanish Publishing in Exile. New York, Bowker, 1940 (pg. 3)</ref>
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'."<ref>Patrick Parrinder and John S. Partington, The reception of H.G. Wells in Europe. London : Thoemmes continuum, 2005. Template:ISBN (p.251)</ref>
The complete 1945 Spanish-language translation of Ulysses was suppressed by the Spanish authorities until 1962.<ref>Gayle Rogers, Modernism and the new Spain : Britain, cosmopolitan Europe, and literary history.
New York : Oxford University Press, 2015. Template:ISBN (pg.249).</ref>
Banned in Francoist Spain for criticizing Christianity, and for mentioning the Bombing of Guernica by the Axis air forces.<ref>Patrick Parrinder and John S. Partington, The reception of H.G. Wells in Europe.London : Thoemmes continuum, 2005. Template:ISBN (p.248)</ref>
Banned in Francoist Spain for its advocacy of feminism.<ref>Lucía Pintado Gutiérrez and Alicia Castillo Villanueva, (eds.) New Approaches to Translation, Conflict and Memory : Narratives of the Spanish Civil War and the Dictatorship.Cham : Springer International Publishing : Palgrave Macmillan, 2019. Template:ISBN (p. 96)</ref>
Banned by censors of Francoist Spain.<ref>" Franco's government censors immediately banned The Hive, which was published for the first time in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1951". "Camilo José Cela", in Michael Sollars, Arbolina Llamas Jennings, (eds.) The Facts on File Companion to the World Novel: 1900 to the Present. New York; Infobase Publishing, 2008 Template:ISBN (p. 149)</ref>
"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."<ref name="shencongwen">Template:Cite news</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Explain
Banned in Thailand for its criticism of King Bhumibol Adulyadej.<ref>Warrick-Alexander, James (February 6, 2006). Thailand Bars Univ. Website. Yale Daily News.</ref>
Rama X: The Thai Monarchy under King Vajiralongkorn (2006)
Kazoora provides insight into the events that led to the severance of ties with President Museveni and the National Resistance Movement<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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.<ref name="karolides">Karolides</ref>
Prosecuted in 1934 after Hanley's publisher Boriswood lost a court case against a charge of obscenity.<ref>John Fordham, James Hanley: Modernism and the Working Class Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2002, (p. 146)</ref> Reprinted in 1992 by Penguin Books and André Deutsch.
Banned in Soho for frank depictions of taboo subjects, such as drug use, street violence, homosexuality, gender identity and domestic violence.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref>
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.<ref name="Spycatcher_time_Zuckerman">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="Spycatcher_bbc2">1987: Ban lifted on MI5 man's memoirs. BBC News. Retrieved on 2012-01-21.</ref>
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.<ref>Nick Hubble, Philip Tew, Leigh Wilson, The 1990s: A Decade of Contemporary British Fiction, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015
Criminal due to containing information useful to terrorists.<ref name="jewish_times_2021-03-23">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="bbc_news-2021-03-23">Template:Cite web</ref>
Kill or Get Killed
Rex Applegate
1976
*Unknown*
*Unknown*
Instructional
Criminal due to containing information useful to terrorists.<ref name="jewish_times_2021-03-23" /><ref name="bbc_news-2021-03-23" />
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.<ref name="jewish_times_2021-03-23" /><ref name="bbc_news-2021-03-23" />
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.<ref name=b2/>
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.<ref name="caselaw.lp.findlaw.com">Template:Citation.</ref><ref name="The Day Obscenity Became Art">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=b2/>
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.<ref name="caselaw.lp.findlaw.com"/><ref name="The Day Obscenity Became Art"/><ref name="upenn2">Template:Cite web</ref>
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.<ref name="caselaw.lp.findlaw.com"/><ref name="The Day Obscenity Became Art"/><ref name="isbn0-8352-1078-2" /> See also Memoirs v. Massachusetts.
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.<ref name="caselaw.lp.findlaw.com"/><ref name="The Day Obscenity Became Art"/><ref name=b2>Template:Cite web</ref>
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.<ref name="caselaw.lp.findlaw.com"/><ref name="The Day Obscenity Became Art"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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.<ref name="findarticles2004">From Henry Miller to Howard SternTemplate:Webarchive, by Patti Davis, Newsweek, March 2004</ref> Also banned in South Africa until the late 1980s.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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.<ref>Karolides et al., pp. 57–71</ref>
Banned in fourteen states in the US. Ban was lifted by an appeals court judge.<ref name="Forever Amber independent.co.uk" /><ref name="Forever Amber naa.gov.au" />
Copies of the first edition seized by San Francisco Customs for obscenity in March 1957; after trial, obscenity charges were dismissed.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
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 Template:Usc 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.<ref name="autogenerated2007">See also footnote 1, United States v. Schiff, 2008-1 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) paragr. 50,111 (9th Cir. 2007), citing United States v. Schiff, 379 F.3d 621, 630 (9th Cir. 2004), regarding the Court's finding that the book The Federal Mafia: How the Government Illegally Imposes and Unlawfully Collects Income Taxes constituted "fraudulent commercial speech."</ref>
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,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> in conjunction with the DoD created a second, redacted edition; which contains blacked out words, lines, paragraphs, and portions of the index.<ref name="singh1">Template:Cite news</ref>
The book was banned for its criticism of the actions of the national liberation front and for acknowledging the 1968 Huế massacre<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Banned due to criticism of the socialist state, especially the planned economy which would inevitably lead to totalitarianism.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The author talked about his experience being imprisoned in a "Vietnamese Gulag" for "Anti-revolutionary propaganda"<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
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"<ref group=Note name=Note01/> by the government.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Banned in Yugoslavia by court order in 1957; author sentenced for enemy propaganda to seven years in prison, prolonged to 13 years in 1962.<ref name="Krivicna estetika 33"/>
In 1963 in Yugoslavia withdrawn by the publisher (Nolit) at request of SDB officials.<ref name="Krivicna estetika 33">Template:Cite news</ref>
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".<ref name="Krivicna estetika 33"/>
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".<ref name="Krivicna estetika 33"/>
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