Banned Books: Literature Suppressed on Social Grounds: Literature Banned on Social Grounds

Throughout history, tyrants, totalitarian states, church institutions, and democratic governments alike have banned books that challenged their assumptions or questioned their authority. Even today, attempts by school boards, local governments, and religious fanatics to restrict our freedom to read continue.The four-volume Banned Books collection focuses on more than 400 works that have been censored for their political, social, religious, or erotic content -- in the United States and around the world -- from biblical times to the present day.Works have been chosen for their literary or historical significance, including their role in the history of censorship. Most are read in middle- and high-school curricula as well as in university courses; some have been the focus of major national or international campaigns; and all were either written in English or are available in English translations.Banned Books: Literature Suppressed on Social Grounds discusses writings that have been banned over the centuries because they offended or merely ignored official truths; challenged widely held assumptions; or contained ideas or language unacceptable to a state, religious institution, or private moral watchdog.Works covered include: -- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain-- The adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle-- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll-- As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner-- Being There, Jerzy Kosinski-- Camille, Alexandre Dumas, Jr.-- The Color Purple, Alice Walker-- Deliverance, James Dickey-- East of Eden, John Steinbeck-- Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury-- A Farewell to Arms, ErnestHemingway-- Gargantua and Pantagruel, Francois Rabelais-- Howl and Other Poems, Allen Ginsberg-- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou-- Jaws, Peter Benchley-- Junky, William S. Burroughs-- Of Time and the River, Thomas Wolfe-- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey-- The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne-- Soul on Ice, Eldridge Cleaver-- Strange Fruit, Lillian Smith.