This book was banned at one time for its depiction of slavery and for concern over the actions of some of the characters. Published in 1852, Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. It was the best-selling book of the 19th century.
Concern over activities, such as Red Riding Hood bringing wine to her grandmother, caused this title to be removed from some schools. This is a collection of German origin fairy tales first published in 1812 by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, the Brothers Grimm.
This text was banned for obscenity as well as its anti-war sentiment. From Wikipedia: "It is one of eleven surviving plays written by Aristophanes. Originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC, it is a comic account of one woman's extraordinary mission to end The Peloponnesian War. Lysistrata persuades the wome...
This short story collection by Ambrose Bierce was considered pacifist and disturbing and removed from some military libraries.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau's works have been banned for being contrary to public morality. Confessions of J.J. Rousseau is an autobiography covering the first fifty-three years of Rousseau's life, up to 1765.
Shakespeare's play was banned at one time because of adult language and references to mature themes and violence. "King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is considered to be one of his greatest plays. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three...
Shakespeare's play was banned at one time because of concern over a character dressing as the opposite sex. Twelfth Night is William Shakespeare's "comedy of gender confusion, in which a girl disguises herself as a man to be near the count she adores, only to be pursued by the woman he loves."
This book has been banned numerous times since original publication because of its content. "Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, published on 24 November 1859, is a work of scientific literature which is considered to be the foundation of evolutionary biology."
This novel was removed from dictatorships in Europe during the the 1920s and 1930s. "The Iron Heel is a dystopian novel by American writer Jack London, first published in 1907. Generally considered to be 'the earliest of the modern Dystopian,' it chronicles the rise of an oligarchic tyranny in the United States."
Shakespeare's play was banned at one time because of adult language and references to mature themes and violence. "The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607."
Shakespeare's play was banned at one time because of adult language and references to mature themes and violence. "The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601. The play, set in the Kingdom of Denmark, recounts how Prince Ha...
This play has been banned because of characterization of racial stereotypes. The Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. "In 16th century Venice, when a merchant must default on a large loan from an abused Jewish moneylender for a friend with r...
This was challenged and banned because the stories were considered to be "distressing and morbid." "The Happy Prince and Other Tales is a collection of stories for children by Oscar Wilde first published in May 1888."
Gulliver's Travels is a famous satirical novel by Jonathan Swift, first published in 1726. It was originally banned because of the politically sensitive references the author makes in the novel, but the work has also been censured for displays of madness and for being "wicked and obscene, blasphemous, filthy in word a...
This text was banned in the seventeenth century for being contrary to the ruling powers of Kings. "Jerusalem Delivered is an epic poem by the Italian poet Torquato Tasso first published in 1581, which tells a largely mythified version of the First Crusade in which Catholic knights, led by Godfrey of Bouillon, battle M...
This novel was removed from dictatorships in Europe during the the 1920s and 1930s. From Wikipedia: "The Call of the Wild is a novel by American writer Jack London. The plot concerns a previously domesticated dog named Buck, whose primordial instincts return after a series of events leads to his serving as a sled dog...
South Africa's apartheid regime banned a number of classic books, reportedly including Frankenstein by Mary Shelley for being "indecent, objectionable, or obscene". This novel was first published in 1818. "Frankenstein" is the classic sci-fi horror tale of an obsessed scientist who assembles a living being from parts...
This book has a very controversial past, due to offensive wording. From Wikipedia: "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel by Mark Twain, first published in 1884. Commonly named among the Great American Novels, the work is among the first in major American literature to be written in the vernacular, characteriz...
This book has a very controversial past, due to offensive wording. "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain is a 1876 novel about a young boy growing up along the Mississippi River."
This title was at one time listed on the Indx Librorum Prohibitorum (List of Prohibited Books) in Rome. "Paradise Lost is an epic poem by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. The poem concerns the Christian story of the Fall of Man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion fr...
This classic has been banned for various reasons, including the animal's abilities to use human language to communicate. Alice in Wonderland is an 1856 novel by Lewis Carroll. "It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world (Wonderland) populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creature...