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Introduction
As long as there have been both burnable writing surfaces and people with opposing ideas there have been book burnings. Whether it was for large scale government sponsored reasons, or just personal arguments, the fact remains the same. A book burning is always one person or group pointing to a specific piece of writing and saying 'There, in that book, is knowledge that is too dangerous to be let out into the world.' And so they destroy it. -
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Chinese Emperor vs. Scholars
In an effort to turn China from many feudal states into one empire, the first Emperor of China was forced to confront some of his most difficult foes in the form of the written word. Many Confucian Scholars were supporters of the feudal state structure and wrote in defense of it. In reaction, to solidify his hold on the region, the Emperor had many books burned (and some of the scholars buried alive). -
Jan 1, 1562
Mayan writings burnt
During the Spanish invasion of Central America in the mid-1500s there was a significant focus on 'civilizing the savages'. In general this meant submission to the Spanish as well as conversion to Christianity. In order to help control the population, and to restrict access to their religion and culture, the Spanish burned just about all of the Mayan books they got their hands on at that time. It is one of the reasons ancient Mayan manuscripts are so hard to come by for historians. -
Slaughterhouse Five
One of the most frequently challenged books of all time, Kurt Vonnegut's novel 'Slaughterhouse Five' was challenged in 1973. Critics wanted it removed from a North Dekota school. What they got was both full removal of the book, and the burning of all the school's copies in the furnace in the basement, -
Pastor Brock Burns Harry Potter
In Janurary of 2001, Pastor Brock, head of a Christian Church in the U.K. decided that the Harry Potter books needed burning. Despite having never read them, something he openly admitted (though he did 'research the content') he held a sermon entitled "The Baby Jesus or Harry Potter?" after which he and his followers burned several copies of the first four Harry Potter books, the only ones that had been published at the time. -
Operation Dark Heart
Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer wrote a book about his time serving in Afghanistan with the permission of the Army. However, after it was published, the CIA and NSA demanded changes to the content, claiming that some of the information within the book was considered classified. The Department of Defense ended up by all 9000+ copies of the first printing and having them burned. Additional editions were censored. -
The Mad Mad Mad World of Climatism
Proving that book burning can be brought on by science as well as religion, two professors at San Jose University took a picture of themselves burning (or about to burn) The Mad Mad Mad World of Climatism by Steve Goreham. The contents of the book, a critique of the science community's focus on climate change, was apparently something they disagreed with to the point of applying fire to the situation. -
Constantine orders Arius' books burned
One of the problems addressed during the first Council of Nicea was how the church should determine when Easter should be held. Another was what to do about the writings of Arius, a man who held vastly different ideas from the rest of the church about what exactly it meant to be 'the son of god'. This led to a firm statement of belief from the Council, and a decree from Constantine to burn the books and kill anyone found hiding them from destruction.
