Books

Most Banned Books in History

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Title
Author
Published
Reason Banned
Notably Banned In
Ulysses
James Joyce1922ObscenityUnited States, United Kingdom
Lady Chatterley's Lover
D.H. Lawrence1928ObscenityUnited Kingdom, Australia
Lolita
Vladimir Nabokov1955Sexual contentFrance, United Kingdom
The Satanic Verses
Salman Rushdie1988Religious offenseIran, India, Pakistan
Tropic of Cancer
Henry Miller1934ObscenityUnited States
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain1884Language / racial slursVarious US schools
To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee1960Language / racial themesVarious US schools
1984
George Orwell1949Political contentSoviet Union
Animal Farm
George Orwell1945Political allegorySoviet Union, UAE
The Catcher in the Rye
J.D. Salinger1951Profanity / sexualityVarious US schools
Brave New World
Aldous Huxley1932Sexual contentIreland, India
The Grapes of Wrath
John Steinbeck1939Political / vulgarKern County, California
Slaughterhouse-Five
Kurt Vonnegut1969Language / violenceVarious US schools
Beloved
Toni Morrison1987Violence / sexual contentVarious US schools
The Color Purple
Alice Walker1982Sexual content / languageVarious US schools
Fahrenheit 451
Ray Bradbury1953Language / themesVarious US schools
Harry Potter series
J.K. Rowling1997WitchcraftUAE, various US schools
Mein Kampf
Adolf Hitler1925Hate speechGermany (until 2016), Netherlands
The Da Vinci Code
Dan Brown2003Religious offenseLebanon
The Diary of a Young Girl
Anne Frank1947Sexual passagesLebanon, various US schools
Of Mice and Men
John Steinbeck1937Profanity / racial slursVarious US schools
Doctor Zhivago
Boris Pasternak1957Anti-SovietSoviet Union
The Kite Runner
Khaled Hosseini2003Violence / sexual contentVarious US schools
Gender Queer
Maia Kobabe2019Sexual content / LGBTQVarious US schools

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