Some of the most controversial books in history are now regarded as classics. The Bible and works by Shakespeare are among those that have been banned over the past two thousand years. Here is a selective timeline of book bannings, burnings, and other censorship activities.
2019: In the United States, people demanded the removal of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series from public libraries. Here are the titles included in the American Library Association's "Top 100 Most Banned and Challenged Books: 2010-2019": "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie.
Book burning has a long and dark history. It has been used by governments, religious institutions, and individuals to suppress dissent, control information, and destroy knowledge. Authors were banned primarily for ethnic or political reasons.
Any book by a banned author would have been confiscated and burned whether it was found in Germany or in an occupied territory. Because the list was generated in 1938, only books published during or prior that year were intended. Book burning is the ritual destruction by fire of books or other written materials.
The Nazi burning of books in May 1933 is perhaps the most famous in history.. Book banning is on the rise in America at an alarming rate. To remind us of dangerous it is, here's a timeline of book banning and burning.
Throughout history, people have burned a wide variety of books for different reasons often targeting works that challenged their ideologies or power. The types of books that have been burned. Unfortunately, books have been burned all over the world, under regimes from the classical age to today.
The list below was compiled in a loose, un-ranked order on the not-at-all scientific basis of impact and interest. Sadly, it includes but a handful of the instances in which books have met fire. Emperor Qin Shi Huang executed the " Burning of Books and Burying of Scholars " to consolidate power.
Then in Ancient Greece, thinkers like Socrates faced backlash. Surprisingly, even this intellectual hub banned "heretical" books. During early Christianity, the Church banned books for theological purity.