The Greatest Books of All Time on Censorship

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
150 Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury 1953 American English
1118 Germany, a Winter Tale Heinrich Heine 1844 German German
1744 Haroun and the Sea of Stories Salman Rushdie 1990 British English
1882 Pereira Maintains Antonio Tabucchi 1994 Italian Italian
3102 Reading Lolita in Tehran Azar Nafisi 2003 Iranian English
3280 Before Night Falls Reinaldo Arenas 1992 Cuban Spanish
3621 Correspondence Voltaire 1751 French French
3638 Areopagitica John Milton 1644 British English
3638 The Thaw Ilya Ehrenburg 1954 Russian Russian
3638 The Raging Reporter Egon Erwin Kisch 1924 Czech German
4099 Четвёртая проза Osip Mandelstam 1930 Russian Russian
4188 Age of Ambition Evan Osnos 2014 American English
4272 The Noise Of Time Osip Mandelstam 1925 Russian Russian
4389 James Joyce Richard Ellmann 1959 American English
4510 The Palace Of Dreams Ismail Kadare 1981 Albanian Albanian
4526 Living In Truth Vaclav Havel 1986 Czech Czech
5437 Communism In Spain In The Franco Era Jorge Semprún 1980 Spanish Spanish
5447 The Burn Vassily Aksyonov 1975 Russian Russian
5636 The Alteration Kingsley Amis 1976 British English
5751 Flight Of Ashes Monika Maron 1981 German German
6264 Thank You For Not Reading Dubravka Ugrešić 2001 Croatian Croatian
6622 Waiting for the Dark, Waiting for the Light Ivan Klima 1993 Czech Czech
6756 The Corpse Walker Liao Yiwu 2008 Chinese Chinese
7120 The Color Of Summer Reinaldo Arenas 1991 Cuban Spanish
7215 It Can't Happen Here Sinclair Lewis 1935 American English
8471 Textermination Christine Brooke-Rose 1992 British English
8605 Rationale Of The Dirty Joke G. Legman 1968 American English
8817 China In Ten Words Yu Hua 2011 Chinese Chinese
9597 The Noodle Maker Ma Jian 2004 Chinese Chinese
9628 Largo Desolato Vaclav Havel 1985 Czech Czech
9657 F Letter Galina Rymbu, Eugene Ostashevsky, Ainsley Morse 2021 Russian Russian
10104 Orwell And Politics George Orwell 2001 British English
10450 Prisoner Without A Name, Cell Without A Number Jacobo Timerman 1981 Argentinian Spanish
10493 A Dictator Calls Ismail Kadare 2023 Albanian Unknown
10571 The Censors Luisa Valenzuela 1976 Argentinian Spanish
11130 Imaginary Homelands Salman Rushdie 1991 British English
11498 Azadi Arundhati Roy 2020 Indian English
11576 Inside The Whale And Other Essays George Orwell 1940 British English
11661 Federico Garcia Lorca Ian Gibson 1989 Spanish English
11850 Havana Real Yoani Sánchez 2011 Cuban Spanish
12574 My Half Century Anna Akhmatova 1997 Russian Russian
13505 Manufacturing Consent Noam Chomsky, Edward Herman 1988 American English
13585 Octobriana And The Russian Underground Peter Sadecky 1971 Unknown English
14063 Silent Close No. 6 Monika Maron 1991 German German
14984 The Lacuna Barbara Kingsolver 2009 American English
15745 Fahrenheit 451 Tim Hamilton 1953 American English
15899 Berlin Diary William L. Shirer 1941 British English
17013 Dulce Ca Mierea E Glonțul Patriei Petru Popescu 1974 Romanian Romanian
17120 Iron Curtain Anne Applebaum 2012 American English
17120 Feast Your Eyes Myla Goldberg 2019 American English
17120 Threatening Anthropology David H. Price 2004 American English
17120 The Slynx Tatyana Tolstaya 2000 Russian Russian
17120 Honor Sonallah Ibrahim 2017 Egyptian Arabic
17120 The Fat Years Chan Koonchung 2009 Chinese Chinese
17120 Siinä Näkijä Missä Tekijä Hannu Salama 1972 Finnish Finnish
17120 I Love Russia Elena Kostyuchenko 2023 Russian Russian
17120 Censoring An Iranian Love Story Shahriar Mandanipour 2009 Iranian Persian
17120 The Woman Who Read Too Much Bahiyyih Nakhjavani 2015 Unknown English
17120 State Of Silence Sam Lebovic 2023 Unknown English
17120 The Book At War Andrew Pettegree 2023 Unknown English
17120 Charlie Chaplin Vs. America Scott Eyman 2023 Unknown English
17120 The Revolutionary Temper Robert Darnton 2023 American English
17120 Pandora’s Box Peter Biskind 2023 Unknown Unknown
17120 Pandora’s Box Peter Biskind 2004 Unknown English
17120 Chinese Shadows Simon Leys 1974 Belgian French
17120 Complete Critical Prose And Letters Osip Mandelstam 1997 Russian Russian
17120 The Bookbinder Of Jericho Pip Williams 2023 Australian English
16849 Farenhajt 451 Ray Bradbury 1953 American English
17120 1984 & Animal Farm George Orwell British English
16920 1984 george orwell 1948 British English