“The tactic of banning books is, to quote Disney’s version of Beauty and the Beast, a tale as old as time. Yet it is rarely an effective method for halting the spread of information. The word censura (“censorship”) comes from the Latin verb censeo, which means to assess. Although publication took a different form prior to the printing press’s introduction to the West in 1450, there was still a great deal of textual censorship and numerous instances of book burning in the premodern Mediterranean.”

Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to read any book that we want, despite the fact that written works continue to be censored and removed from libraries even today.The American Library Association (ALA), reported 311 books in 2014, and keeps a running top 10 list of books banned yearly; however, many censored books — as many as 80% — are never even reported to the ALA.

Source: Top 5 Ancient And Medieval Censored Books To Read During Banned Book Week