11 Book Burning Stories That Will Break Your Heart
There are a variety of ways to express your dislike for books, ranging from banning them to using them as toilet paper, but the classic method remains book burning. Here are some of the worst examples of what has occurred in the United Kingdom over the years.
1. The Burying of Scholars
For over 500 years, Ancient China had a golden age of writing and ideas, with scholars producing some of the most fascinating philosophies of all time. Then, in 221 BC, the wars stopped, and Emperor Qin consolidated power, burning all history books and burying 1000 scholars alive.
2. Nalanda
For 600 years, Nalanda was one of the world’s best universities, and the loss of its religious texts effectively ended Buddhism as a major religion in India. In 1193, Bakhtiyar Khilji and his Muslim army set out to destroy it.
3. “Heretical” Books
The Spanish Inquisition burned at the stake any books that were not part of the Catholic Bible, especially those written in Hebrew or Arabic, and Torquemada organized book burning “festivals” where thousands of heretical volumes were destroyed.
4. Maya Codices
The Mayans predicted the end of the world, but did not actually predict it; they had a writing system by 100 BC, and they recorded their history for 1400 years; in 1562, Spanish friars attempted to Christianize the Maya by torturing them.
5. Glasney College
Glasney College, founded in 1265 and once the epicenter of Cornish scholarship, was looted and burned, along with its books, in 1548 by Henry VIII.
6. The Library of Congress
President Adams decided in 1800 that the new government needed a place to store “such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress,” but the Library was burned down by the invading British only 14 years later.
7. Chinese Libraries
During World War II, the Japanese military made it a policy to destroy libraries, and eight major libraries and their collections were burned to the ground.
8. Warsaw Libraries
Warsaw had 14 libraries, all of which were burned to the ground, resulting in the loss of an estimated 16 million books and manuscripts by the end of the war, thanks to the Germans’ use of special troops known as Verbrennungskommandos.
9. German Libraries
But it was Germany that lost the most books: by the end of the war, at least one-third of all books in the country had been reduced to ash.
10. National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Hundreds of librarians and local residents attempted to save the books, but it was in vain.
11. Timbuktu Manuscripts
In January 2013, Islamist insurgents in Mali destroyed thousands of irreplaceable manuscripts, which were part of not only Mali’s but the world’s heritage. Many of the books had never been translated, and their information was lost forever. If you need a pick-me-up, Kathy’s humor book Funerals to Die For is a good place to start.
What cultures have burned books?
The following is a list of some of the book burnings that have occurred since WWII ended.
- Iran, 1946
- United States, 1956
- China, 1966-1976
- Chile, 1973
- United States, 1973
- Sri Lanka, 1981
- Abkhazia, Georgia, 1992
- Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1992.
Is book burning still practiced?
Book burning is one of the most extreme forms of censorship, suppressing opposing viewpoints to religious and secular authorities by ceremonially burning written text. Unfortunately, book burning has a long history, and the practice is still very much alive today, despite the ironic nature of what it accomplishes now vs. what it accomplishes in the past.
Did the Soviets burn books?
From the 1920s to the 1950s, communists in the Soviet Union burned an unknown number of decadent western books and writings, and during the McCarthy era, several American libraries burned the works of supposedly pro-Communist authors.
Why is Fahrenheit 451 a banned book?
A school district banned Fahrenheit 451 because it contained the phrase “God damn!” The school board felt that this language was inappropriate for students to read.
What is the most famous book burning?
The burning of books, which is usually done in a public setting, is a form of censorship that usually stems from cultural, religious, or political opposition to the materials in question. The Nazi regime’s book burning on May 10, 1933, is perhaps the most famous book burning in history.
Is the Bible the most banned book in the world?
Nothing is sacred when it comes to book banning, and the Bible is one of the most challenged books of the year.
Why are books burned?
The deliberate destruction of books or other written materials by fire, usually in a public setting, is known as book burning. Book burning is a form of censorship that usually stems from cultural, religious, or political opposition to the materials in question.
Who Burned Bible?
Diocletian ordered the razing of the newly built Christian church at Nicomedia, the burning of its scriptures, and the seizure of its treasures the following year, on February 23, 303; later persecutions included the burning of both Christians and their books.
What was the first book burning?
25,000 u201cun-Germanu201d books are burned by university students in Berlin’s Opera Square on May 10, 1933, as 40,000 people gather to hear Joseph Goebbels deliver a fiery address: u201cNo to decadence and moral corruption!u201d
Why was the New Testament burned?
Although some copies were smuggled into England and sold there, owning a copy of Tyndale’s New Testament still carried the death penalty, and most copies were destroyed by the authorities, who saw the distribution of the English New Testament as a threat to the established Church.
What famous books have been burned?
Nazis burned a number of well-known books.
- 02/15’A Farewell to Arms’ by Ernest Hemingway.
- 03/15’How I Became a Socialist’ by Helen Keller.
- 04/15’All Quiet on the Western Front’ by Erich Maria Remarque.
- 05/15’The Time Machine’ by H.G. Wells.
- 06/15’The Metamorphosis’ by Franz Kafka.
- 07/15’The Metamorphosis’ by Franz Kafka
What books are illegal in the US?
Books that have been “banned” as examples
- The Catcher in the Rye.
- The Harry Potter series.
- Fun Home.
- Brave New World.
- Of Mice and Men.
- To Kill a Mockingbird.
- The Catcher in the Ry
Does paper really burn at 451 degrees?
Bradbury’s title refers to the auto-ignition point of paper, which is the temperature at which it will catch fire without being exposed to an external flame. Bradbury claimed that “book-paper” burns at 451 degrees, and it’s true that different types of paper have different auto-ignition temperatures.
Is 1984 still banned?
Why it was banned: George Orwell’s 1984 has been challenged and banned numerous times in the past for its social and political themes, as well as for its sexual content; in addition, the book was challenged in Jackson County, Florida in 1981 for being pro-communist.