This document discusses books that have been banned on political grounds. It provides examples of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler, and The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. These books were banned for promoting controversial political ideologies or portraying societies in ways that threatened current political regimes. Fahrenheit 451 depicted a dystopian future that discouraged free thought. Mein Kampf outlined Hitler's Nazi beliefs, and The Communist Manifesto advocated for communism and the overthrow of capitalism.

1. B o o k s
B a n n e d o n
P o l i t i c a l
G r o u n d s
L I T 2 0 0 0
F a l l 2 0 2 0
B y A l e x a n d e r
P e r r y, A u s t i n
L e n k e r a n d S a m u e l
R e y e s

2. W h y a r e
B o o k s
B a n n e d o n
P o l i t i c a l
G r o u n d s ?

3. Reasons Why
• A book supports or examines a
controversial political system or
form of government, such as
fascism.
• Books can be banned due to
inaccurate portrayals of history, or
portrayals of history that go against
the current political regime of an
area (LibGuides).
• Books can be banned for
promoting nationalistic or
revolutionary movements.

4. E x a m p l e s
o f B o o k s
B a n n e d o n
P o l i t i c a l
G r o u n d s

5. F a h r e n h e i
t 4 5 1
b y R a y B r a d b u r y

6. Why was it politically
challenged?
• Fahrenheit 451 was disliked for its picture of
society, as it painted a society that was written
and flooded with chaos and war (Tracy).
• The society in the book was in a dystopian
state with an authoritarian government that
ruled harshly over its citizens, as it
discouraged individuality and free thought
as though they were crimes.
• Many people challenged the book because
of its illegality and censorship of books,
especially the Bible.
• People thought that the book was too prophetic
and supportive of the society Bradbury wrote
about in his book (Tracy).

7. M e i n
K a m p f
B y A d o l f H i t l e r

8. Why was it politically
challenged?
• The book was intended to be a source
of propaganda for Nazi Germany,
which was the source of many crimes
against humanity in the 1930s and 40s
(Hoover).
• The book laid out the beliefs behind
the Nazi regime, which was against
the political ideas of many other
countries at the time of banning
(Hoover).
• There was, and still is, worry that the
ideas of Hitler will be carried into a
new, modern political movement
• The Neo-Nazi movement brought this
fear into the spotlight
• The book was banned for promoting
militaristic political behavior (Karolides
et al).

9. T h e
C o m m u n i s
t
M a n i f e s t o
b y K a r l M a r x a n d
F r i e d r i c h E n g e l s

10. Why was it politically
challenged?
• The book talks
about the oppressed working class against
the bourgeoisie. Stating that in time the
working class would overthrow the capitalist
class ultimately changing the government to
favor the working class. This ideology could
transfer to different type of
governments hence why It would be
banned.
• The book was banned in many different
time periods but sufficiently during the
1950s because it conflicted with American
ideals. (Kumar et al).
• In the book, the author goes into the topic
on private property and goes on about
women rights and that all women should be
as equal to her husband. This ideology was
different in the U.S. back then, which made
it so that women did not have equal rights
until this time.

11. Thank
You!

12. Works Cited
• Note: All images were taken from Google Images.
• “Banned Books: Reasons for Banning Books.” LibGuides,
libguides.butler.edu/bannedbooks?p=217686.
• “Books Banned for Political Reasons.” Media and Cultural
Analysis, Omeka,
counterarchive.hosting.nyu.edu/exhibits/show/banned-and-
challenged-books/books-banned-for-political-rea.
• Hoover, Lisa. “Hitler and Censorship: Is There Value in 'Mein
Kampf'?” Intellectual Freedom Blog, 24 Apr. 2018,
www.oif.ala.org/oif/?p=13869. Accessed 11 Sept. 2020.
• “Ida B. Wells.” Biography.com, 24 June 2020,
www.biography.com/activist/ida-b-wells. Accessed 11 Sept.
2020.
• Kumar, Aditi, et al. “The Communist Manifesto.” The Censorship
Files, 27 Apr. 2018, thecensorshipfiles.wordpress.com/volume-
1/issue-2/the-communist-manifesto/.
• Mumford, Tracy. “A Permission Slip to Read 'Fahrenheit 451'?”
MPR News, 25 Oct. 2016,
www.mprnews.org/story/2016/10/25/books-fahrenheit-451-
permission-slip. Accessed 11 Sept. 2020.
• National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
“Nation's Premier Civil Rights Organization.” NAACP,
www.naacp.org/nations-premier-civil-rights-organization/.
Accessed 11 Sept. 2020.
• "Why Is Fahrenheit 451 Banned?" Study.com, 4 March 2016,
study.com/academy/lesson/why-is-fahrenheit-451-banned.html.
Accessed 11 Sept. 2020.