Although censorship may seem like a thing of the past, current controversies over books, movies, and websites prove it to be a very timely and critical issue. Fully updated and Revised with more than 50 percent new material, Encyclopedia of Censorship, New Edition presents a full range of information about the history and evolution of censorship and its role in society today. Covering all forms of expression from the past to the present, from the office of the censor in ancient Rome to the Internet in the computer age, this completely current reference examines every facet of this complex subject. With an easy-to-use A-to-Z format perfect for high school and college students as well as anyone with an interest in censorship and its politics, Encyclopedia of Censorship, New Edition brings this important topic up to date through the new millennium.

As public tastes change, so does the nature of popular drama. In the fifth century BC, Aristophanes's Lysistrata attracted censors for its themes of wifely rebellion and sex. From the 15th to the 18th centuries, plays were censored primarily for religious or political reasons. In the 19th century, social and sexual reasons for censorship emerged, and modern moralists have objected to works by such playwrights as Arthur Miller, Eugene O'Neill, and Lillian Hellman.

As U.S. society struggles to protect both its culture and its right to free speech, there is ongoing debate about whether censorship should ever be allowed. The authors in this anthology explore a number of facets of that debate, censorship on the Internet, censorship in relation to America's war on terrorism, whether free speech should be censored, and whether freedom in the United States is threatened by censorship.

Since the earliest days of the film industry, mainstream films have been banned for their sexual, religious, social and political content. This volume traces the efforts to censor 125 films, ranging from the silent ""The Birth of a Nation"", to ""Schindler's List"". It examines the continued efforts to regulate the industry, providing a summary of each banned film - including production details, censorship history, and suggestions for further reading. The volume looks at the early efforts to regulate the movie industry, such as the Hays Code in 1922 and the Motion Picture Production Code in 1930. There is also coverage on the emergence of the Catholic League of Decency, which wielded extensive power for nearly 40 years and the reasoning behind the different types of censorship, including racism and anti-Semitism, sexual ""indecency"" and the fear of Communism. The appendices profile the directors of the banned films, classify them according to the reason for their censorship or ban, and listing of 125 additional challenged, censored, and banned films.

Published in conjunction with the PEN American Center, Burn This Book is a powerful collection of essays that explore the meaning of censorship and the power of literature to inform the way we see the world, and ourselves. As Americans we often take our freedom of speech for granted. When we talk about censorship we talk about China, the former Soviet Union, or the Middle East. But recent political developments--including the passage of the Patriot Act--have shined a spotlight on profound acts of censorship in our own backyard. Burn This Book features a sterling roster of award-winning writers offering their incisive, uncensored views on this most essential topic, including such revered literary heavyweights as Toni Morrison, Salman Rushdie, Orhan Pamuk, David Grossman, and Nadine Gordimer, among others. Both provocative and timely, Burn This Book is certain to inspire strong opinions and ignite spirited, serious dialogue.

If you’re an actress or a coed just trying to do a man-size job, a yes-man who turns a deaf ear to some sob sister, an heiress aboard her yacht, or a bookworm enjoying a boy’s night out, Diane Ravitch’s internationally acclaimed The Language Police has bad news for you: Erase those words from your vocabulary! Textbook publishers and state education agencies have sought to root out racist, sexist, and elitist language in classroom and library materials. But according to Diane Ravitch, a leading historian of education, what began with the best of intentions has veered toward bizarre extremes. At a time when we celebrate and encourage diversity, young readers are fed bowdlerized texts, devoid of the references that give these works their meaning and vitality. With forceful arguments and sensible solutions for rescuing American education from the pressure groups that have made classrooms bland and uninspiring, The Language Police offers a powerful corrective to a cultural scandal.

Many words and expressions are viewed as 'taboo', such as those used to describe sex, our bodies and their functions, and those used to insult other people. This 2006 book provides a fascinating insight into taboo language and its role in everyday life. It looks at the ways we use language to be polite or impolite, politically correct or offensive, depending on whether we are 'sweet-talking', 'straight-talking' or being deliberately rude. Using a range of colourful examples, it shows how we use language playfully and figuratively in order to swear, to insult, and also to be politically correct, and what our motivations are for doing so. It goes on to examine the differences between institutionalized censorship and the ways individuals censor their own language. Lively and revealing, Forbidden Words will fascinate anyone who is interested in how and why we use and avoid taboos in daily conversation.

Discusses some 100 books that have been targets of religious censorship over the centuries, encompassing texts of the world's major religions, novels, and classic works of philosophy, science, and history, as well as contemporary works. Alphabetical entries describe the content of each work and rev

Describes the content and histories of some 100 fiction and nonfiction works from many cultures and time periods censored on grounds of sexual content, illuminating changing attitudes toward the erotic through a survey of the legal fate of classic and representative works. Includes biographical pro