Classics

When The Prince was first circulated in the early 16th century, it immediately caused controversy. Machiavelli’s blunt advice on power, politics, and leadership was seen as dangerous, even shocking. Rather…

When Kate Chopin’s The Awakening was published in 1899, it was met with immediate outrage. The novel was banned from libraries and dismissed by critics as immoral and scandalous. What…

When Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 was published in 1961, it quickly became both celebrated and controversial. The novel, with its biting satire of war and bureaucracy, was banned and challenged in…

When Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn published One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich in 1962, it marked a shocking moment in Soviet literature. For the first time, a novel openly described…

When Doctor Zhivago was first completed in the 1950s, it was immediately banned in the Soviet Union. Authorities objected to its portrayal of the Russian Revolution and the years that…

When Salman Rushdie published The Satanic Verses in 1988, it immediately became one of the most controversial books of modern times. The novel was banned in several countries, including India,…

When D.H. Lawrence published Lady Chatterley’s Lover in 1928, it immediately became one of the most controversial novels of the 20th century. The book was banned in multiple countries, including…

When Giovanni Boccaccio wrote The Decameron in the 14th century, he could hardly have imagined the stir it would cause for centuries to come. The book was banned in many…

Why The 120 Days of Sodom Was BannedFew books in history have been as notorious as The 120 Days of Sodom. Written in 1785 by the Marquis de Sade while…

Why For Whom the Bell Tolls Was BannedWhen Ernest Hemingway published For Whom the Bell Tolls in 1940, it quickly became both celebrated and controversial. The novel was challenged and…