List of books banned by governments

thumb|right|220px|A display of formerly banned books at a US library

thumb|A banned books sanctuary in a Florida library

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.

The usual reasons for banning books are pornography and obscenity, including child porn, anti-government or revolutionary provocation, propagating extremist philosophy such as Nazism, agitation of hate, instructions on violence, homicide or preparing illegal weapons and/or munitions, and/or blasphemy, especially in Islamic countries. Many books have been banned because of multiple reasons.

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 S. 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. , 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. The following list of countries includes historical states that no longer exist.

<!-- I'm commenting out this section because, of the four sources being used to support the claim that the Taliban had banned ALL BOOKS, none of them said that, or even mentioned a list of books that had been banned by the Taliban. I'm commenting it out, and not removing it, because they do support the fact that censorship obviously existed during that time– but some better sources will need to be found. -JPxG, November 2021

Afghanistan

{| class="wikitable"

! Title

! Notes

|All

|During the five-year reign of the Taliban government in Afghanistan, Western technology and art was prohibited and this included all books.

This source only mentions movies and TV.

This source does not mention a total ban on books.

This source mentions movies and TV, and says that "anyone who carries objectionable literature will be executed", but does not mention all books being banned.

This source says the pre-Taliban government engaged in some censorship, the post-Taliban government banned lots of types of literature, the Taliban of course suppressed lots of things, but it does not mention "all books" being banned either.-

This is totally unsourced:

The ban was resumed in 2021 upon the return of the Islamic Emirate.

|} -->

Albania

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| Përbindëshi (The Monster) (1965)

| Ismail Kadare

| 1965–1990

| Novel

| Banned for 25years in Albania.

Argentina

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| Lolita

| Vladimir Nabokov

| 1955

| Novel

| Was banned in the past for being "obscene".

Australia

{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Year banned

! Year unbanned

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| rowspan="2" | The Decameron

| rowspan="2" | Giovanni Boccaccio

| rowspan="2" | 1353

| 1927

| 1936

| rowspan="2" | Story collection

| rowspan="2" | Banned in Australia from 1927 to 1936 and from 1938 to 1973.

| 1938

| 1973

| The 120 Days of Sodom (1789)

| Marquis de Sade

| 1789

| 1957

| *Unknown*

| Novel

| Banned by the Australian Government in 1957 for obscenity.

| rowspan="2" | Droll Stories

| rowspan="2" | Honoré de Balzac

| rowspan="2" | 1837

| 1901

| 1923

| rowspan="2" | Short stories

| rowspan="2" | Banned for obscenity from 1901 to 1923 and from 1928 to .

| 1928

| 1973

| 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.

| Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928)

| D. H. Lawrence

| 1928

| 1929

| 1965

| Novel

| Banned from 1929 to 1965.

| Rowena Goes Too Far (1931)

| H. C. Asterley

| 1931

| *Unknown*

| Novel

| Banned in Australia because of customs belief that it "lacked sufficient claim to the literary to excuse the obscenity"

| Brave New World

| Aldous Huxley

| 1932

| 1937

| Novel

| Banned in Australia from 1932 to 1937.

|Age of Consent

| colspan="2" style="text-align:center"; | 1938

| by 1939

| Novel

| Banned in Australia, briefly, in 1938.

| Forever Amber (1944)

| Kathleen Winsor

| 1944

| 1945

| *Unknown*

| Novel

| Banned by Australia in 1945 as "a collection of bawdiness, amounting to sex obsession."

| Borstal Boy

| Brendan Behan

| colspan="2" style="text-align:center"; | 1958

| *Unknown*

| Autobiographical novel

| Banned shortly after its ban in Ireland in 1958.

| 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.

| Ecstasy and Me

| Hedy Lamarr

| 1966

| 1967

| 1973

| Autobiography

| Banned in Australia from 1967 to 1973.

| How to make disposable silencers (1984)

| Desert and Eliezer Flores

| 1984

| *Unknown*

| Instructional

| An example of a class of books banned in Australia that "promote, incite or instruct in matters of crime or violence".

| American Psycho

| Bret Easton Ellis

| colspan="2" style="text-align:center"; | 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.

| A Sneaking Suspicion (1995)

| John Dickson

| 1995

| colspan="2" style="text-align:center"; | 2015

| Religious text

| Banned by the New South Wales Department of Education and Communities from state schools on , 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." The ban was lifted

| The Peaceful Pill Handbook (2007)

| Philip Nitschke and Fiona Stewart

| colspan="3" style="text-align:center"; | 2007

| Instructional manual on euthanasia

| The book was initially restricted in Australia; after review, the 2007 edition was banned outright.

| You: An Introduction (2008)

| Michael Jensen

| 2008

| colspan="2" style="text-align:center"; | 2015

| Religious text

Austria

{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Year banned

! Year unbanned

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| The Sorrows of Young Werther

| Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

| 1774

| *Unknown*

| Novel

| Banned by the authorities in the Austrian territories ruled by the Habsburg monarchy.

| Works

| Karl Marx

| 1841–1883

| rowspan="2" | 1938

| rowspan="2" | 1945

| rowspan="2" | Nonfiction

| All of Marx's works were banned in Austria after the country was annexed by Nazi Germany. 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 tenyears, or up to twentyyears if the offender or his actions are especially dangerous." The book describes various aspects of Sheikh Hasina's character.

| Rangila Rasul (1927)

| Pandit M. A. Chamupati

| 1927

| Religious

| Currently banned in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

| The Satanic Verses (1988)

| Salman Rushdie

| 1988

| Novel

| Banned for blasphemy against Islam. Rushdie received a fatwa for his alleged blasphemy.

| Naree (1992)

| Humayun Azad

| 1992

| Criticism

| Banned in Bangladesh in 1995, though the ban was later lifted in 2000.

| Lajja (1993)

| Taslima Nasrin

| 1993

| Novel

| Banned in Bangladesh, 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. Utal Hawa (Wild Wind), the second part of her memoir, was banned by the Bangladesh government in 2002. 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 3,000copies were seized immediately. The decision to ban the book was criticised by "a host of authors" in West Bengal, but the ban was not lifted until 2005. Sei Sob Ondhokar (Those Dark Days), the fourth part of her memoir, was banned by the Bangladesh government in 2004.

Belgium

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | 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.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| The Mountain Wreath (1847)

| Petar II Petrović-Njegoš

| 1847

| Drama in verse

| Banned in Bosnian schools by Carlos Westendorp.

Brazil

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | 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.

Canada

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| Droll Stories

| Honoré de Balzac

| 1837

| Short stories

| Banned for obscenity in 1914. The book's status as an obscene publication was not resolved until a ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada in 1962.

| 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".

| 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.

| Peyton Place (1956)

| Grace Metalious

| 1956

| Novel

| Banned in Canada from 1956 to 1958.

| 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.

| The Turner Diaries

| William Luther Pierce

| 1978

| Novel

| Classified as "hate literature" in Canada and subsequently banned from import into the country.

Chile

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| How to Read Donald Duck

| Ariel Dorfman and Armand Mattelart

| 1971

| Nonfiction

| Banned in Pinochet's Chile. The Chilean army publicly burned copies of the book.

| The House of the Spirits

| Isabel Allende

| 1982

| Novel

| Banned in Pinochet's Chile.

| The Open Veins of Latin America

| Eduardo Galeano

| 1971

| rowspan="2" | Nonfiction

| Clandestine in Chile

| Gabriel García Márquez

| 1986

| Banned in Pinochet's Chile. On November 28, 1986, the Chilean customs authorities seized almost 15,000copies of Clandestine in Chile, which were later burned by military authorities in Valparaíso.

China

Czechoslovakia

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author

! Year published

! Year banned

! Year unbanned

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| The White Disease (1937)

| Karel Čapek

| 1937

| 1938

| 1945

| Political play

| Banned by the government of the Second Czechoslovak Republic in 1938.

| Animal Farm (1945)

| George Orwell

| 1946

| 1948

| 1968

| Political novella

| Banned by the government in 1948.

Egypt

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| A Feast for the Seaweeds (Walimah li A'ashab alBahr)

| Haidar Haidar

| 1983

| rowspan="2" | 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.

| The Satanic Verses (1988)

| Salman Rushdie

| 1988

| Banned for blasphemy against Islam.

Eritrea

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| I Didn't Do It for You: How the World Betrayed a Small African Nation (2005)

| Michela Wrong

| rowspan="2" | 2005

| History

| Banned in Eritrea in 2014 for its criticism of President Isaias Afewerki.

| My Father's Daughter (2005)

| Hannah Pool

| Biography

| Banned in Eritrea in 2014 for political content.

| Lolita (1955)

| Vladimir Nabokov

| 1955

| Novel

| The novel was banned by French officials for being "obscene"

| 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. Subsequent reprints were thus illegal. The book was cited by name in the debates of the French National Assembly when examining the bill.

Germany

Weimar Republic (1918–1933)

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | 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

Nazi Germany (1933–1945)

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| Ivanhoe

| Walter Scott

| 1819

| rowspan="2" | Novel

| Prohibited by Nazi Germany for featuring Jewish characters.

| Oliver Twist

| Charles Dickens

| 1839

| Prohibited by Nazi Germany for featuring Jewish characters.

| 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.

| 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.

| 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.

| Die Gesteinigten

| Friedrich Forster

| 1933

| Drama

| Banned and printed copies pulped.

| The Story of Ferdinand

| Munro Leaf

| 1936

| Children's fiction

| Banned in Nazi Germany.

East Germany (1949–1990)

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| The Jungle

| Upton Sinclair

| 1906

| Novel

| In 1956, it was banned in East Germany for its incompatibility with Communism.

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

thumb|256x256px|An exemplary entry of a movie in the list of confiscated media in the official magazine "BPjMaktuell" (today "BzKJaktuell").

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.

List of books confiscated for violating Criminal Code 86, 86a, 130 or 130a

This list collectively lists media that violate one of the following paragraphs:

Section86: Dissemination of propaganda material of unconstitutional and terrorist organisations
Section86a: Use of symbols of unconstitutional and terrorist organisations
Section130: Incitement of masses
Section130a: Instructions for committing criminal offences

{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| Auschwitz - Die Erste Vergasung - Gerüchte und Wirklichkeit

| Carlo Mattogno

| 2007

| rowspan="3" | Historical revisionism / Holocaust denial

| Confiscated by the Mannheim Regional Court in September2012. Unofficial title translation: Auschwitz, The First Gassing, Rumors and Reality

| Auschwitz - Tätergeständnisse und Augenzeugen des Holocaust

| Jürgen Graf

| 1994

| Confiscated by the Mannheim Regional Court in November1994. Unofficial title translation: Auschwitz - Confessions of Perpetrators and Eyewitnesses of the Holocaust

| Der Auschwitz-Mythos - Legende oder Wirklichkeit

| Wilhelm Stäglich

| 1978

| Confiscated by the Stuttgart Regional Court in May1982. 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

| rowspan="2" | Instructional

| Confiscated by the Munich Regional Court in May1991.

| Black Book Companion - State-of-the Art Improvised Munitions

| Published by Paladin Press

| 1990

| Confiscated by the Munich Regional Court in July1991.

| Die Chemie von Auschwitz - Die Technologie und Toxikologie von Zyklon B und den Gaskammern - Eine Tatortuntersuchung

| Germar Rudolf

| 2017

| Historical revisionism / Holocaust denial

| Confiscated by the Darmstadt Regional Court in March 2018. 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

| rowspan="3" | Instructional

| Confiscated by the Munich Regional Court in May1991.

| Dragons Touch - Weaknesses of the Human Anatomy

| Master Hei Long, published by Paladin Press

| 1983

| Confiscated by the Munich Regional Court in May1991. Unofficial title translation: End times, end games. The conclusion of the Jewish century

| Geheimakte Gestapo-Müller - Dokumente und Zeugnisse aus den US-Geheimarchiven (Band 1)

| Gregory Douglas

| 1995

| Historical revisionism / Holocaust denial

| Confiscated by the Starnberg Regional Court in August1996. Unofficial title translation: Secret Files Gestapo Müller - Documents and Evidence from the US Secret Archives

| Geheimakte Gestapo-Müller - Dokumente und Zeugnisse aus den US-Geheimarchiven (Band 2)

| Gregory Douglas

| 1996

| Historical revisionism / Holocaust denial

| Confiscated by the Starnberg Regional Court in January1999. Unofficial title translation: Secret Files Gestapo Müller - Documents and Evidence from the US Secret Archives

| 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 July1991. Unofficial title translation: Fundamentals of Contemporary History - A Handbook on Controversial Issues of the 20th Century

| Der Holocaust auf dem Prüfstand - Augenzeugenberichte versus Naturgesetze

| rowspan="2" | Jürgen Graf

| 1992

| Confiscated by the Weinheim Regional Court in September1993. Unofficial title translation: The Holocaust under scrutiny - eyewitness accounts versus natural laws

| Der Holocaust-Schwindel

| 1993

| Confiscated by the Weinheim Regional Court in September1993. Unofficial title translation: Cardinal Questions on Contemporary History - A collection of controversial statements by Germar Rudolf, alias Ernst Gauss, on the prevailing zeitgeist in science, politics, justice, and the media.

| 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. An uncommented reprint was confiscated by the Forchheim Regional Court in October 2016 for Incitement of masses. Annotated editions are not affected by the confiscation.

| The Poisoner's Handbook

| Maxwell Hutchkinson, published by Loompanics Unlimited

| 1988

| rowspan="2" | Instructional

| Confiscated by the Munich Regional Court in May1991. Unofficial title translation: Cause of death: Contemporary history research

| Vorlesungen über den Holocaust - Strittige Fragen im Kreuzverhör

| Germar Rudolf

| 2005

| Confiscated by the Mannheim Regional Court in March 2007. Unofficial title translation: Lectures on the Holocaust - Controversial Questions in Cross-Examination

| Wahrheit sagen, Teufel jagen

| Gerard Menuhin

| 2016

| Confiscated by the Schleswig Regional Court in February 2019. Unofficial title translation: Wahrheit sagen, Teufel jagen

List of books confiscated for violating Criminal Code 131

This list contains media that violate the following paragraph:

Section131: Depictions of violence

{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| Deep Wet Torture Handbook - Die 100 besten Frauenfolterfilme

| Andreas Bethmann

| 2003

| rowspan="3" | Catalog

| Confiscated by the Neuburg an der Donau Regional Court in May2007. Unofficial title translation: Deep Wet Torture Handbook - The 100 Best Female Torture Films

Greece

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| Lysistrata (411BC)

| Aristophanes

| Play

| Banned in 1967 in Greece because of its anti-war message.

| El Señor Presidente

| Miguel Ángel Asturias

| 1946

| Novel

| Banned in Guatemala because it went against the ruling political leaders.

India

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| Rama Retold

| Aubrey Menen

| 1954

| Prohibited in 1955 for allegedly offending religious sentiments by retelling the Ramayana in a secular/satirical manner.

Indonesia

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | 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.

| Interest

| Kevin Gaughen

| 2015

| Banned by the government of Indonesia for subversive and/or anti-government themes.

Iran

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| The Satanic Verses

| Salman Rushdie

| 1988

| Novel

| Banned for blasphemy against Islam.

|The Zahir

|Paulo Coelho

|2005

|Banned in Iran; Coelho's works faced censorship and prohibition by Iranian authorities in the mid‑2000s.

Ireland

{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header"

! Title

! width="100pt" | Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | 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.

| Droll Stories

| Honoré de Balzac

| 1837

| Short stories

| Banned for obscenity in 1953. The ban was lifted in 1967.

| And Quiet Flows the Don

| Mikhail Sholokhov

| 1928–1940

| Novel sequence

| The English translations of Sholokhov's work were banned for "indecency".

| Elmer Gantry

| Sinclair Lewis

| 1927

| rowspan="3" | Novel

| Elmer Gantry was banned in the Irish Free State.

| A Farewell to Arms

| Ernest Hemingway

| Suppressed in the Irish Free State.

| Brave New World

| Aldous Huxley

| Banned in Ireland in 1932, allegedly because of references of sexual promiscuity.

| Dutch Interior

| Frank O'Connor

| 1940

| Novel

| Banned in Ireland.

| 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.

| The Lonely Girl (1962)

| Edna O'Brien

| 1962

| Banned in Ireland in 1962 after Archbishop John Charles McQuaid complained personally to Justice Minister Charles Haughey that it "was particularly bad".

| My Secret Garden

| Nancy Friday

| 1973

| Non-fiction

| Banned in Ireland for its sexual content.

Israel

The importation of books published in enemy countries is forbidden. These currently include Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria.

Italy

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| All Quiet on the Western Front

| Erich Maria Remarque

| 1928

| rowspan="2" | Fiction

| Banned in Fascist Italy because of its antimilitarism (currently not banned).

| A Farewell to Arms

| Ernest Hemingway

| 1929

| Banned in Fascist Italy for depicting the Italian Army's defeat at the Battle of Caporetto (currently, this book is not banned).

Japan

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | 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.

Kenya

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| The Satanic Verses (1988)

| Salman Rushdie

| 1988

| Novel

| Banned for blasphemy against Islam.

| Grover's Eight Nights of Light

| Jodie Shepherd

| 2017

| Sesame Street book

| Banned in 2017 for promoting Hanukkah.

Liberia

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| The Satanic Verses (1988)

| Salman Rushdie

| 1988

| Novel

| Banned for blasphemy against Islam.

| Fifty Shades Trilogy

| E. L. James

| 2011–2012

| rowspan="2" | Novel

| The entire trilogy was banned in Malaysia from 2015 for containing "sadistic" material and "threat to morality".

| The Mask of Sanity (2017)

| Jacob M. Appel

| 2017

| Banned pre-emptively in Malaysia for blasphemy.

| Rebirth: Reformasi, Resistance, and Hope in New Malaysia

| Kean Wong

| 2020

| rowspan="2" | Nonfiction

| 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".

| Gay is OK! A Christian Perspective (20132022)

| Boon Lin Ngeo

| 2013

|Banned for attempting to promote homosexual culture in Malaysia, which goes against religious and cultural sensitivities in the country.

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 RM5000 to the author.

| Peichi (Tamil: பேய்ச்சி)

| Ma. Naveen

| 2020

| rowspan="7" | Novel

| Banned for containing pornographic and immoral content.

Notably, it was the first Tamil language publication to be banned in the country.

| A Million Kisses in Your Lifetime

| Monica Murphy

| 2022

| rowspan="6" | The ministry explained on January 7, 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

| Punai

| Asyraf Bakti

| rowspan="2" | 2022

| Scattered Showers

| Rainbow Rowell

| When Everything Feels Like The Movies

| Raziel Reid

| 2014

| What If It's Us

| Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera

| 2018

| 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 Section7(1) of Act301 as they are considered 'undesirable publications' on , and was later publicly announced on February8.

| 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 Section7(1) of Act 301 as they are considered 'undesirable publications' on , and was later publicly announced on February8.

| All That's Left in the World

| Erik J. Brown

| 2022

| Novel

Morocco

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | 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.

| 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.

Mauritius

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| The Rape of Sita (1993)

| Lindsay Collen

| 1993

| Novel

| Banned for blasphemy against Hindu goddess.

Nepal

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| The Satanic Verses (1988)

| Salman Rushdie

| 1988

| Novel

| Banned for blasphemy against Islam.

| 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. Ban lifted by the Court of Appeal of The Hague in 2016.

New Zealand

{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| Lolita (1955)

| Vladimir Nabokov

| 1955

| Novel

| Banned for being "obscene"; uncensored in 1964. 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.

Nigeria

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | 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.

Norway

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| Hans Jæger

| 1885

| rowspan="2" | Novel

| Sexually explicit.

| Albertine

| Christian Krohg

| 1886

| Sexually explicit.

| Snorri the Seal (1941)

| Frithjof Sælen

| 1941

| Fable

| Satirical book banned during the German occupation of Norway.

| The Song of the Red Ruby

| Agnar Mykle

| 1956

| rowspan="2" | Novel

| Sexually explicit. Ban lifted in 1958.

| Without a Stitch

| Jens Bjørneboe

| 1966

| Sexually explicit. The ban was never formally lifted.

Pakistan

{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| Satyarth Prakash

| Dayananda Saraswati

| 1875

| Religious text

| Swami Dayananda's religious text Satyarth Prakash was banned in some princely states and in Sindh in 1944 and is still banned in Sindh.

| Rangila Rasul (1927)

| Pt.Chamupati

| 1927

| Religious

| Currently banned in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

| The Satanic Verses (1988)

| Salman Rushdie

| 1988

| Novel

| Banned for blasphemy against Islam.

Papal States

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | 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. Original title: De Originibus et Usu perpetuo.

Papua New Guinea

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| The Satanic Verses (1988)

| Salman Rushdie

| 1988

| Novel

| Banned for blasphemy against Islam.

| El Filibusterismo

| 1891

| 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.

| The Untold Story of Imelda Marcos

| Carmen Pedrosa

| 1969

| 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.

| Teatro Political Dos

| Malou Jacob

| rowspan="3" | Banned in 2022 by the Commission on the Filipino Language (KWF) from public libraries and schools for being "antigovernment". The works are previously published under the auspices of the KWF.

| Mein Kampf (1925)

| Adolf Hitler

| 1925

| Political manifesto

| Banned until 1992.

| 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.

Qatar

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| The Boys

| Garth Ennis

| rowspan="2" | 2012

| Comic book series

| Banned in Qatar in 2012.

| The Man Who Wouldn't Stand Up (2012)

| Jacob M. Appel

| rowspan="2" | Novel

| Banned in Qatar in 2014 for its depiction of Islam.

| Love Comes Later (2014)

| Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar

| 2014

| Banned in Qatar.

Roman Empire

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| Thalia

| Arius (AD250 or 256 336)

| Theological tract, partly in verse

| Banned in the Roman Empire in the 330's+ for contradicting Trinitarianism. All of Arius writings were ordered burned and Arius exiled, and presumably assassinated for his writings. Banned by the Catholic Church for the next thousand plus years.

Russia

{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| Quran

| Unknown

| Religious text

| In 2013, a Russian court in Novorossiysk banned a translation of the Quran by Elmir Kuliyev under the country's 'extremism' laws. The ban was soon overturned.

| Rights of Man (1791)

| Thomas Paine

| 1791

| Political theory

| Banned in Tsarist Russia after the Decembrist revolt.

| The Communist Manifesto

| Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

| 1848

| Political Manifesto

| Prohibited by several countries, including Tsarist Russia.

| 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.

| Mein Kampf (1925)

| Adolf Hitler

| 1925

| Political manifesto

| Banned in the Russian Federation as extremist.

| Apocalypse Culture

| Adam Parfrey

| 1987

| rowspan="2" | 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.

| Siege

| James Mason

| 1992

| Anthology of essays advocating for neo-Nazi revolution through terrorism. Banned on .

Soviet Union

{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| 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.

| 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. Once published, the book was banned in the USSR and other communist countries.

| Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949)

| George Orwell

| 1949

| rowspan="4" | Novel

| Banned by the Soviet Union

| Doctor Zhivago

| Boris Pasternak

| 1955–1988

| 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.

| The Gulag Archipelago (1973)

| Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

| 1973

| rowspan="1" | Non-fiction

| Banned in the Soviet Union because it went against the image the Soviet Government tried to project of itself and its policies. 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.

Saudi Arabia

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | 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 pre586B.C.E. kingdoms of Israel and Judah between Medina and Yemen.

| Goat Days

| Benyamin & Joseph Koyippally

| 2008

| Novel

|Currently banned in Saudi Arabia.

|Zakariyya Kandhlawi

|Sometime between the 1920s and 1950s

|Sufi evangalism

|Currently banned in Saudi Arabia.

Senegal

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| The Satanic Verses (1988)

| Salman Rushdie

| 1988

| Novel

| Banned for blasphemy against Islam.

| Origin of Family, Private Property and State

| Friedrich Engels

| 1884

| One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

| Vladimir Lenin

| 1904

| Theories of Surplus Value

| Karl Marx

| 1905

| Two Tactics of Social Democracy in the Democratic Revolution

| Vladimir Lenin

| 1905

| Anarchism or Socialism?

| Joseph Stalin

| 1907

| Fundamental Problems of Marxism

| Georgi Plekhanov

| 1908

| Political pamphlet

| Heroines of the Modern Progress

| Elmer C. Adams

| 1913

| rowspan="6" | Non-fiction

| The Right of Nations to Self-Determination

| rowspan="5" | Vladimir Lenin

| 1914

| What Is to Be Done?

| rowspan="3" | 1917

| Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism

| State and Revolution

| The Proletarian Revolution and the Renegade Kautsky

| 1918

| Friedrich Engels: A Biography

| Gustav Mayer

| rowspan="2" | 1920

| Biography

| "Left-Wing" Communism: An Infantile Disorder

| rowspan="2" | Vladimir Lenin

| rowspan="3" | Nonfiction

| On Cooperation

| 1923

| Problems of Leninism

| Joseph Stalin

| 1926

| Time, Forward!

| Valentin Kataev

| 1932

| rowspan="2" | Novel

| How the Steel Was Tempered

| Nikolai Ostrovsky

| 1936

| Marxism and the National and Colonial Question

| Joseph Stalin

| rowspan="2" | 1937

| rowspan="8" | Non-fiction

| Combat Liberalism

| Mao Zedong

| The A to Z of the Soviet Union

| Alex Page

| 1946

| Aspects of China's Anti-Japanese Struggle

| Mao Zedong

| 1948

| The Case for Communism

| William Gallacher

| rowspan="2" | 1949

| Twilight of World Capitalism

| William Z. Foster

| Concerning Marxism in Linguistics

| Joseph Stalin

| 1950

| The Social and State Structure of the USSR

| Alexander Karpinsky

| 1952

| The Satanic Verses

| Salman Rushdie

| 1988

| Novel

| Banned in 1989 for blasphemy against Islam.

| What Islam Is All About

| Yahiya Emerick

| 1997

| Religious education

| rowspan="3" | Banned in 2018 for "promoting enmity among different religious communities".

| The Wisdom of Jihad

| Abuhuraira Abdurrahman

| 2005

| rowspan="3" | Non-fiction

| Things that Nullify One's Islaam

| Shaykh alIslaam Muhammad ibn 'AbdilWahhaab

| 2013

| Red Lines: Political Cartoons and the Struggle Against Censorship

| Cherian George and Sonny Liew

| 2021

| Banned in 2021 for offensive content against Muslims.

South Africa

{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| Frankenstein (1818)

| Mary Shelley

| 1818

| Novel

| Banned in apartheid South Africa in 1955 for containing "obscene" or "indecent" material.

| The Lottery (1948)

| Shirley Jackson

| 1948

| Short story

| Banned in South Africa during Apartheid.

| Lolita (1955)

| Vladimir Nabokov

| 1955

| rowspan="2" | Novel

| Banned for being "obscene";

| A World of Strangers

| Nadine Gordimer

| 1958

| Banned in South Africa because of its criticism of Apartheid.

| Why We Can't Wait

| Martin Luther King Jr.

| rowspan="2" | 1964

| Non-fiction

| Banned in South Africa because of its criticism of white supremacy.

| The First Book of Africa

| Langston Hughes

| Nonfiction; Children's book

| Banned in South Africa for its celebration of Black African culture.

| The Struggle Is My Life

| Nelson Mandela

| 1978

| Non-fiction

| Banned in Apartheid South Africa until 1990.

| Burger's Daughter

| Nadine Gordimer

| 1979

| rowspan="2" | 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. July's People is now included in the South African school curriculum.

South Korea

{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published (South Korea)

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| Year 501: The Conquest Continues

| Noam Chomsky

| 2000

| rowspan="5" | Politics

| rowspan="7" | Banned from distribution within the South Korean military as part of 23 books banned on , by the South Korean Ministry of National Defense in response to intelligence suggesting a bookdistribution campaign to activeduty soldiers by the proNorth Korean Hanchongnyon. The books were classified into three categories: 11 for praise of North Korea, 10 for antigovernment/antiAmerican content, and two for anticapitalism.

| What Uncle Sam Really Wants

| Noam Chomsky

| 2007

| Guerillas of the Kingdom of Samsung

| Pressian

| 2008

| Auf Der Universität

| Theodor Storm

| 1999

| The Global Trap

| Hans-Peter Martin and Harald Schumann

| 2003

| Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism

| Ha-Joon Chang

| 2007

| Nonfiction

| One Spoon on This Earth

| 1999

| rowspan="2" | Novel

| Slots

| Shin Gyeong-jin

| 2007

| Banned as part of 19 books added in August 2011 to the 2008 banned book list, all belonging to the 'anticapitalism' category.

|Respect: Everything a Guy Needs to Know About Sex

|Inti Chavez Perez

|2020

|Nonfiction

|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.

Spain

{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header"

! width="150pt" | Title

! width="120pt" | Author(s)

! Year published

! width="120pt" | Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| Works

| Johannes Kepler

| 1596–1634

| Non-fiction

| Banned by Habsburg Monarchy of Spain for perceived heresy.

| 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.

| Works

| Vicente Blasco Ibáñez

| 1892–1928

| Novels, Nonfiction

| All of Blasco Ibáñez's books were banned by the Franco government in 1939.

| A Short History of the World

| H. G. Wells

| 1922

| Non-fiction

| An expanded, Spanishlanguage 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'."

| Ulysses

| James Joyce

| 1922

| Novel

| The complete 1945 Spanishlanguage translation of Ulysses was suppressed by the Spanish authorities until 1962.

| The Story of Ferdinand

| Munro Leaf

| 1936

| Children's fiction

| Banned in Francoist Spain.

| For Whom the Bell Tolls

| Ernest Hemingway

| 1940

| Novel

| Suppressed by the Spanish authorities until 1968.

| Works

| Federico García Lorca

| 1939

| Poetry, drama

| Banned until 1954; published in Argentina.

| 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.

| The Spanish Labyrinth

| Gerald Brenan

| 1943

| rowspan="2" | Non-fiction

| Banned in Francoist Spain because of its strong criticism of the Nationalist Faction's actions during the Spanish Civil War.

| The Second Sex

| Simone de Beauvoir

| 1949

| Banned in Francoist Spain for its advocacy of feminism.

| The Hive

| Camilo José Cela

| 1950

| Fiction

| Banned by censors of Francoist Spain.

| 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.

| The Death of Lorca

| Ian Gibson

| 1971

| Biography

| Banned briefly in Spain.

Sri Lanka

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| The Satanic Verses (1988)

| Salman Rushdie

| 1988

| Novel

| Banned for blasphemy against Islam.

Thailand

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | 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.

| The Satanic Verses (1988)

| Salman Rushdie

| 1988

| Novel

| Banned for blasphemy against Islam.

| Rama X: The Thai Monarchy under King Vajiralongkorn (2006)

| Pavin Chachavalpongpun

| 2024

| Banned in Thailand for its criticism of King Vajiralongkorn.

Uganda

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| The Greedy Barbarian

| Kakwenza Rukirabashaija

| 2020

| Novel

| Satirical novel which describes high-level corruption in a fictional country.

| From Third World to First

| Lee Kuan Yew

| 2000

| rowspan="2" | Memoir

| Betrayed By My Leader

| John Kazoora

| 2012

| Kazoora provides insight into the events that led to the severance of ties with President Museveni and the National Resistance Movement

Ukraine

United Arab Emirates

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | 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.

| Goat Days

| Benyamin & Joseph Koyippally

| 2008

| Novel

United Kingdom

{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header"

! width="170pt" | Title

! width="120pt" | Author(s)

! Year published

! Year banned

! Year unbanned

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| Areopagitica

| John Milton

| colspan="2" style="text-align:center"; | 1644

| 1695

| Essay

| Banned in the Kingdom of England for political reasons.

| Fanny Hill or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure

| John Cleland

| 1748

| 1749

| 1970

| Novel

| Banned in the UK until after the Second World War.

| 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.

| rowspan="6" | 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.

| Ulysses (1922)

| James Joyce

| 1922

| 1936

| Banned in the UK until 1936.

| Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928)

| D. H. Lawrence

| 1928

| 1960

| Banned in the United Kingdom for violation of obscenity laws; the ban was lifted in 1960.

| Boy

| James Hanley

| 1931

| 1934

| 1992

| Prosecuted in 1934 after Hanley's publisher Boriswood lost a court case against a charge of obscenity. Reprinted in 1992 by Penguin Books and André Deutsch.

| Lolita

| Vladimir Nabokov

| colspan="2" style="text-align:center"; | 1955

|1959

| Banned for being "obscene".

| Spycatcher

| Peter Wright

| colspan="2" style="text-align:center"; | 1985

| 1988

| Autobiography

| Banned in the UK from 1985 to 1988 for revealing secrets. Wright was a former MI5 intelligence officer and his book was banned before it was even published in 1987.

| 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.

| The Anarchist Cookbook

| William Powell

| 1971

| *Unknown*

| rowspan="3" | Instructional

| rowspan="3" | Criminal due to containing information useful to terrorists.

| Kill or Get Killed

| Rex Applegate

| 1976

| *Unknown*

| Put 'Em Down. Take 'Em Out. Knife Fighting Techniques From Folsom Prison

| Don Pentecost

| 1988

|*Unknown*

United States

{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Year unbanned

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| 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 landholdings to his son, and then suffered indignities as he left the New World for England. It was the first work banned in Boston.

| Fanny Hill or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure

| John Cleland

| 1748

| 1959 and 1966

| rowspan="5" | Novel

| Banned in the U.S. in 1821 for obscenity, then again in 1963. This was the last book ever banned by the U.S. government. U.S. obscenity laws were overturned in 1959 by the Supreme Court in Kingsley Pictures Corp. v. Regents.

| Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852)

| Harriet Beecher Stowe

| 1852

| 1865

| Banned in the Confederate States during the Civil War because of its antislavery content.

| Elmer Gantry

| Sinclair Lewis

| 1927

| 1959

| Banned in Boston, Massachusetts, Kansas City, Missouri, Camden, New Jersey, and other U.S. 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.

| Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928)

| D. H. Lawrence

| 1928

| 1959

| Temporarily banned in the United States for violation of obscenity laws; the ban was lifted in 1959. Also banned in South Africa until the late 1980s.

| The Grapes of Wrath (1939)

| John Steinbeck

| 1939

| *Unknown*

| rowspan="3" | Novel

| Was temporarily banned in many places in the U.S. In the state of California in which it was partially set, it was banned for its alleged unflattering portrayal of residents of the area.

| Forever Amber (1944)

| Kathleen Winsor

| 1944

| *Unknown*

| Banned in fourteen states in the U.S. Ban was lifted by an appeals court judge.

| 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.

| 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.

| United StatesVietnam 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. U.S. President Nixon attempted to suspend publication of classified information. The restraint was lifted by the U.S. Supreme Court in a 6–3 decision. 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 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.

| Operation Dark Heart (2010)

| 2010

| In 2013, 198 of 433redactions of classified material reinstated. In 2015, testimony to Congress was permitted.

| Memoir

| In September 2010, the United States Department of Defense (DoD) overrode the Army's January approval for publication. The DoD then purchased and destroyed all 9,500first edition copies, citing concerns that it contained classified information which could damage national security. The publisher, St. Martin's Press, in conjunction with the DoD created a second, redacted edition; which contains blacked out words, lines, paragraphs, and portions of the index.

Uruguay

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| The Open Veins of Latin America

| Eduardo Galeano

| 1971

| Nonfiction

Uzbekistan

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title

! Author(s)

! Year published

! Type

! class="unsortable" | 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.

|La İlahe İllallah Ne Demek Biliyor musun?

|Faruk Furkan

| -

|Religious, islam

|Contains ideas of extremism and terrorism

|Demokratiya - bu dindir!

|Abu Muhammad Maqdisiy

| -

|Religious, islam

|Contains ideas of extremism and terrorism on the grounds of "promoting false socialism ideology"

| Nineteen Eighty-Four

| George Orwell

| 1949

| Political novella

| The book was unable to get certification for publication, thus making it banned in Vietnam.

| Paradise of the Blind

| rowspan="2" | Dương Thu Hương

| 1988

| rowspan="2" | Novel, Literary fiction

| Banned in Vietnam for criticism on the political party in control.

| No Man's Land

| 2005

| Banned in Vietnam for criticism of the Vietnamese Communist Party.

| Politics for Everyone (Chính Trị Bình Dân)

| Phạm Đoan Trang

| 2017

| Non-fiction

| Banned in Vietnam on the grounds of political sensitivity.

| The 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.

| 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" 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 Clauses1 and 2 of the Article33, Publishing Law which prohibits works criticising the Vietnamese Communist Party and propaganda going against the interests of the state.

| The Winning Side (Bên Thắng Cuộc)

| Huy Đức

| 2012

| Non-fiction

| 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. 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.

| 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" by the government.

|A Handbook of How to Support Prisoners of Conscience (Cẩm nang nuôi tù)

|Phạm Đoan Trang

|2019

|Non-fiction

|Banned in Vietnam on the grounds of political sensitivity.

|Politics of the police state

|Phạm Đoan Trang

|2019

|Non-fiction

|Banned in Vietnam on the grounds of political sensitivity.

| 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 13years in 1962.

| 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".