Are banned books really banned? What "banned" means

Usually, no: not in the sense of being illegal. In most of the English-speaking world it's rare for a government to make a book illegal to own. Most "banned books" were removed from somewhere: a school library, a retailer, a publisher's catalogue, or a country's bookshops at some point in history. This catalogue gives every book a shelf status (whether you can get it today) and, where it applies, who banned it.

The ways a book gets banned

• Government ban. The state forbids publishing, importing or selling a book. The Soviet Union banned Doctor Zhivago and The Gulag Archipelago; India banned the import of The Satanic Verses in 1988; Nazi Germany burned All Quiet on the Western Front.
• Court order or prosecution. A court stops publication, or a publisher is prosecuted. Lady Chatterley's Lover was effectively banned in Britain until Penguin won its trial in 1960; the UK government fought Spycatcher in court for years; Israel sought an injunction against By Way of Deception in New York in 1990.
• Customs seizure. Copies are stopped at the border. US Customs seized Ulysses until a federal court cleared it in 1933.
• Church ban. From 1559 to 1966 the Catholic Church kept an Index of forbidden books, including The Prince and Galileo's Dialogue.
• Publisher withdrawal. A publisher recalls or pulps its own book, usually after a legal threat: Children for the Devil (1991), Fortunate Son (1999). See Withdrawn by publisher.
• Retailer removal. A bookseller stops selling a title. Amazon sells most books bought in the US, so when it drops one the book becomes much harder to find, though it's still legal. See books banned by Amazon.
• Out of print. Nobody prints the book any more and used copies become rare and expensive. A $300 price tag keeps a book from readers almost as well as a ban. See Out of print / scarce.
• School and library challenges. Someone asks a school or library to remove a book. This is what most news about "banned books" in the US means, and what Banned Books Week focuses on. Strictly, most of these are challenges: the book is removed from one collection, not from sale. This catalogue doesn't track school-district challenges.
• Platform moderation. A book stays on sale, but videos and posts discussing it are taken down. Several books here are ones whose YouTube reviews were removed.

Questions people ask

Are banned books really banned?

Some were, and a few still are in some countries. But most books called "banned" today are legal to own, buy and sell; they were removed from a particular library, school, shop or platform. Each book page here says what actually happened to it.

What are banned books banned from?

It depends on the ban: a whole country (a government or court ban), a border (customs), a church's approved reading (the Vatican's Index), a retailer's catalogue (Amazon), or one school or library's shelves (a challenge).

What's the difference between a banned book and a challenged book?

A challenge is a request to remove a book from a library or curriculum. If the request succeeds, the book is removed from that collection, which libraries count as a ban. It can still be bought and read elsewhere.

Is it illegal to own a banned book?

In the US and UK, almost never. Laws differ by country: some states still ban particular titles, and some countries restrict material such as hate propaganda. In Germany, for example, owning most books is legal, but distributing some kinds of content can be a crime.

Does banning a book violate the First Amendment?

In the US, the First Amendment limits what the government can ban, which is why courts cleared Ulysses, Tropic of Cancer and Howl. It doesn't stop private companies such as retailers and publishers from choosing not to sell a book. School-library removals are a contested middle ground that US courts still argue over.

Why do banned books become classics?

Partly because many were banned for challenging the politics or morals of their time, which is also why they're still read. See the banned classics.

What a listing means

A listing here isn't a recommendation. Many of these books make claims that courts, historians or scientists have rejected, and some are openly hostile to particular groups. We describe each book in neutral terms so you can see what it is, why it was banned or is hard to find, and where to look, and then judge it for yourself.

Where the list comes from

This catalogue began with books featured in reading lists and reviews by independent book reviewers who focus on banned, fringe and esoteric subjects, and has grown to include classics banned by governments, courts, customs and churches. We check each book's details and status separately. Where a status rests only on a reviewer's report, the entry's shelf note says so.