,

Whether they've been banned or not, the ideas in these books have somehow or other been considered dangerous by somebody or other. This is not a "Best Of" list, this is just a list of books that somehow or another, contain dangerous ideas. This list may surprise you, the ideas contained in these books might not even seem dangerous now, but others are just as controversial then as they were today.
1

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3

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4.02 avg rating — 4,614,392 ratings
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4

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3.80 avg rating — 3,921,191 ratings
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5

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4.01 avg rating — 122,595 ratings
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6

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4.45 avg rating — 320,947 ratings
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7

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3.97 avg rating — 2,874,208 ratings
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8

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4.16 avg rating — 27,835 ratings
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9

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3.99 avg rating — 890,952 ratings
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10

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4.03 avg rating — 1,429,291 ratings
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11

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4.03 avg rating — 1,624,747 ratings
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12

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3.71 avg rating — 72,229 ratings
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13

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3.18 avg rating — 43,761 ratings
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14

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3.94 avg rating — 2,538,827 ratings
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15

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4.30 avg rating — 54,466 ratings
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16

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3.88 avg rating — 430,434 ratings
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17

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4.35 avg rating — 1,517,100 ratings
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18

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4.06 avg rating — 381,037 ratings
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19

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4.23 avg rating — 24,832 ratings
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20

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3.69 avg rating — 408,264 ratings
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21

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4.35 avg rating — 10,001,929 ratings
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22

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3.92 avg rating — 327,372 ratings
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23

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4.13 avg rating — 119,690 ratings
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24

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4.37 avg rating — 478,379 ratings
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25

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4.09 avg rating — 267,983 ratings
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26

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4.42 avg rating — 113 ratings
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26

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4.30 avg rating — 200 ratings
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28

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4.29 avg rating — 49 ratings
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29

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3.61 avg rating — 3,531 ratings
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30

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4.36 avg rating — 157,588 ratings
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31

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3.87 avg rating — 38,544 ratings
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32

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3.78 avg rating — 155,459 ratings
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33

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3.88 avg rating — 1,017,943 ratings
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34

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4.01 avg rating — 299,176 ratings
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35

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4.67 avg rating — 6 ratings
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36

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3.66 avg rating — 33,573 ratings
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37

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3.92 avg rating — 11,195 ratings
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38

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 65 ratings
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39

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 65 ratings
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40

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4.32 avg rating — 420,261 ratings
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40

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4.17 avg rating — 250,709 ratings
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42

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4.36 avg rating — 4,199,428 ratings
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43

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3.74 avg rating — 7,384 ratings
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44

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3.82 avg rating — 361 ratings
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45

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3.84 avg rating — 4,686 ratings
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46

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4.09 avg rating — 31,582 ratings
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47

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4.30 avg rating — 175 ratings
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48

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3.75 avg rating — 16 ratings
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49

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4.19 avg rating — 15,797 ratings
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50

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3.76 avg rating — 50 ratings
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51

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3.56 avg rating — 6,089 ratings
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52

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3.95 avg rating — 257,055 ratings
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53

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3.89 avg rating — 25,634 ratings
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54

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4.50 avg rating — 6 ratings
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55

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4.14 avg rating — 37 ratings
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56

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3.71 avg rating — 14 ratings
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57

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3.96 avg rating — 1,757,812 ratings
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58

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4.33 avg rating — 33 ratings
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59

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3.65 avg rating — 2,348 ratings
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60

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3.76 avg rating — 37 ratings
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60

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3.13 avg rating — 2,852 ratings
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62

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 65 ratings
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63

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4.15 avg rating — 2,458,001 ratings
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64

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3.98 avg rating — 2,351 ratings
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65

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3.77 avg rating — 5,188 ratings
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66

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4.61 avg rating — 724 ratings
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67

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3.97 avg rating — 99 ratings
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68

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4.11 avg rating — 9,226 ratings
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69

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3.89 avg rating — 338,423 ratings
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70

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4.04 avg rating — 2,859 ratings
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71

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3.88 avg rating — 31,202 ratings
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72

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3.34 avg rating — 59 ratings
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73

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4.01 avg rating — 9,544 ratings
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74

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4.17 avg rating — 1,126 ratings
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75

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4.12 avg rating — 3,758,352 ratings
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76

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3.84 avg rating — 710,077 ratings
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77

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3.80 avg rating — 10 ratings
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78

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3.83 avg rating — 280,905 ratings
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79

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3.97 avg rating — 171 ratings
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80

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4.17 avg rating — 89 ratings
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81

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3.81 avg rating — 1,446 ratings
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82

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4.33 avg rating — 15 ratings
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83

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3.99 avg rating — 16,171 ratings
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84

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4.50 avg rating — 117 ratings
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85

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3.96 avg rating — 328,885 ratings
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86

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4.14 avg rating — 119,785 ratings
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87

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4.13 avg rating — 7,793 ratings
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88

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4.05 avg rating — 9,345 ratings
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89

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3.85 avg rating — 721 ratings
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90

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4.23 avg rating — 1,795 ratings
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91

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4.02 avg rating — 2,747 ratings
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91

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4.02 avg rating — 469 ratings
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93

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3.59 avg rating — 17,984 ratings
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94

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3.35 avg rating — 5,718 ratings
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95

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3.77 avg rating — 12,579 ratings
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96

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4.21 avg rating — 246 ratings
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97

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4.09 avg rating — 4,006 ratings
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98

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3.80 avg rating — 1,000 ratings
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99

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3.46 avg rating — 2,858 ratings
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100

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3.39 avg rating — 264 ratings
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160 books · 110 voters · list created August 15th, 2009 by Jacobmartin (votes) .
63 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


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Comments Showing 1-5 of 5 (5 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Jacobmartin (new)

Jacobmartin Ok, I've added seven of my favorite dangerous books, but there's so many more I haven't even mentioned! Please feel free to add more of your own!


message 2: by John (new)

John Burns No offence but this is a stupid idea for a list.

Exactly what is a dangerous idea? Surely any idea becomes dangerous when it's misapplied? An idea is only as dangerous as the idiots who get ahold of it.


message 3: by Jacobmartin (new)

Jacobmartin Killthepopular wrote: "No offence but this is a stupid idea for a list.

Exactly what is a dangerous idea? Surely any idea becomes dangerous when it's misapplied? An idea is only as dangerous as the idiots who get ahol..."


The idea came to me as there was a festival in Sydney called "The Festival of Dangerous Ideas" or something. The list here's not really meant to class ideas as so much completely dangerous, but a list of books that have been considered dangerous at some time or another. Whether or not they're dangerous now is not the issue, the issue is the history of ideas that may have been considered dangerous at some point.

If you can find any particularly good examples of literature that has both been called dangerous and has some literary implications for the world since, I suggest you add them to this list, which is far from complete. Remember, it's not about whether YOU think an idea is dangerous, it's about books that have been challenged as dangerous at some point in history.




message 4: by John (last edited Aug 16, 2009 02:25PM) (new)

John Burns Surely these parameters account for 99% of classic novels ever published?

Nearly every good book ever published for example has been banned in one american school or another because of the perceived affect it will have on the students...


message 5: by Greyweather (last edited Aug 16, 2009 07:04PM) (new)

Greyweather Killthepopular wrote: "Surely these parameters account for 99% of classic novels ever published?"

Not to mention:
Every religious text, book about religion, book about atheism, or philosophy book
Every science book
Every history book
Every book of political science or political theory
Every book on psychology or sociology
Every book about about race, gender, sexual orientation (or hell, sex of any kind)
And the list just goes on and on...


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