The books deemed too dangerous to read

In this video, we go deep into the dark world of censorship. With the help of the world's only Banned Books Museum, we'll take a look at some notorious literature.

Should Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf be banned? Why is The Anarchist Cookbook still available? And did Thirteen Reasons Why really cause suicides?

Those questions answered and more, along with a look at censorship in China, Salman Rushdie's "fatwa", banned children's books and the restriction of language books.

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==CHAPTERS==
0:00 Introduction
0:49 The Banned Books Museum
1:40 Mein Kampf - Adolf Hitler
4:41 The Anarchist Cookbook - William Powell
7:30 Ground News
8:40 13 Reasons Why - Jay Asher
12:27 The Satanic Verses - Salman Rushdie
13:57 Censorship in China
15:36 Banned language books
16:30 Conclusion
17:15 Newsletter

[Cantread]

Banning books makes them so much more powerful to the minds of the curious.

[jacktribble]

In the case of "The Anarchist Cookbook" the banning and restriction just created an air of mystery about it that attracted people who would never thought about it otherwise. It was a lot like the "Parental advisory" sticker for adults. It almost became a symbol of lawlessness just by itself. And he was right, most of the information in there is flawed and quite dangerous if attempted.

[Ammo]

When I was in junior high school back in the mid-60s, two brothers in my class kept checking out the book In Cold Blood....the librarian got worried that they were planning something and using the book as a guide...it turns out that neither could read real well, and it was taking them a long time to read it.

[snowysnowyriver]

I'm 71 years old. I read Mein Kampf when I was 16 years old. It was on the shelf in my local libray here in the UK and anyone 16 or over could borrow it. I didn't turn into a mass murderer or a fanatic after reading it. The book was rather boring, but I did enjoy discussing it with my father who was a soldier in WW2, was captured and was a prisoner of war. He and his fellow POWs saw Germans from a perspective that never left them.

[typograf]

My grandfather was slapped in school for writing something in Faroese. Faroese was not prohobited, but it had for most purposes been forbidden from being used in written texts for centuries. It seems to not be uncommon to ban languages. Faroese survived in oral form - quite well. I think I understand why supression of languages causes much anger and sorrow.

[katereznikov]

We just came from Tallinn. On the top of Tallinn being a must see place, visiting this museum in particularly is a huge step in anyone's intellectual development! Thank you! for the greatest idea of creating this museum and brining it it life!!!

[stischer]

Interestingly, when I was a senior in high school (many years ago), my senior English teacher came up with a reading list for us and submitted it to the principal for approval. He turned all of the books down and came up with another list (e.g. Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm). She then told us that what happened as she passed out the approved list. I asked what was on her list. She smiled, glanced at the shut door, and began to give us her list as we hurriedly copied down the titles and authors. So, instead of "preserving our young minds from corruption", we all went out, found the books, and read them. What started as "required", ended up being banned and alluring. What a doofus.

[borntochill]

a small note from a german viewer 'Mein Kampf' wasn't really banned, but the german state of Bavaria held the copyright for it until 2015 and didn't allow anyone to reprint it. in 2015 the book became public domain.
in anticipation for it becoming public domain the critical edition was created.

[mini]

I don't remember much of what happened in 13 reasons why, I just remember when I was a teen and reading this book for the first time, I could relate heavily to the main character. When she explained what happened to her in the jacuzzi and Hannah telling her friend he was the only nice person to her really stuck with me. As a teen, I was navigating through my emotions and I was always taught to conceal my emotions, but after reading 13 reasons, I actually started talking more about what I was feeling. I guess it's how you take the information and story that's being provided.

[a-bombmori]

Something interesting about the Anarchist's Cookbook, is that it has somewhat of a sequel. The Anarchist's Cookbook 2000. It's a collection of online text files that were spread around the internet sometime around the year 2000 by various authors. A lot of its content is about technology exploits, many of which involve the horribly unsecure dial tone system that was still in use. It covers a lot of the same topics the original Anarchist's Cookbook covered, but the information is a lot more accurate. Although they do still spread some myths that were popular at the time. It even includes fairly accurate information regarding legal rights, including how things are different for juvenile offenders. Seeing as it was written by several different people, and also includes a few pieces that are just commentary on society, it has enormous historical value. Giving insight into the minds of troubled youth at the turn of the millennium.

[SirAntoniousBlock]

_"Those who burn books will in the end burn people"_ Heinrich Heine.
Not a post WW2 quote but from the 19th century.

[blackukulele]

William Tyndale's translation of the New Testament into English was banned in England in 1526, Tyndale was later judicially strangled in 1536.

[jthev]

Tarzan of the Apes was banned by a librarian because she said that Tarzan and Jane were living in sin—they were not married. However, if she had bothered to actually read the saga of Tarzan and Jane, they were married by her father, who was an ordained minister, in the jungle cabin where Tarzan was born. And it was a double wedding to boot! Jane's friend, Hazel Strong, married Lord Tennington in the same ceremony. So there, nasty librarian! Can't get much more married than that. [Check it out for yourselves, pages 364–365 in any A.C. McClurg, A.L. Burt or pre-WWII Grosset & Dunlap edition of The Return of Tarzan. Any other edition, just turn to the last page or two.]

I really enjoy your videos on language. It was a fortuitous day when I discovered RobWords and I've been hooked ever since. I have been fascinated all my life with idiomatic phrases and their origins and word usage histories through the ages. In fact, my guest bathroom contains a number of books dealing with just that. Good reading material for short or longer visits.

[nunyabiznez]

My first banned book was The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments. I was 12 and was addicted to parts of our public library normally off limits to anyone under 16. But the librarian liked me and one day told me that she had been ordered to dispose of a book that was supposed to have been disposed of almost a decade earlier but none of the librarians had the heart to do so. So She kept it locked in the safe with other rare books not usually available to the public like a bible printed in the 1590's. So the town council had sent an auditor to the library to take inventory of rare and valuable books for insurance purposes and the auditor gave the town council a list of books that in their opinion were illegal to own (technically not but that's a long story) so she was ordered to destroy all of those few and that was one of them so she asked if I'd like it. Of course I jumped at the chance. Originally I think the book sold for about 50 cents but my softcover version does not have the price marked on it but part of the cover is missing so it might have been there. Today you can occasionally find it for sale for as little as $300. Several websites have posted copies online but all that I know of have had their accounts canceled as a result. A few years ago there was a video on YouTube that was a slideshow of all the pages so you could read it but that is now down as well. Not long after it was published roughly 60 years ago the government ordered all libraries and schools to remove or destroy their copies or lose all federal funding. Every book seller in the country also got a letter ordering them to stop selling the book though I forget what the government threatened them with if they did not comply. So the publisher pulled the book and never bothered to renew the copyright so periodically you can find an E-copy for sale for something like $25. I've seen E-copies as high as $50.

I have another banned book but didn't know it was banned until years after I obtained it. When I was a child I spent much of my time living in a nudist commune. There were a few dozen families and a handful of older single people who lived there part or full time. I lived there full time for three years then spent several summers there after we moved. A well known photographer whose works are in major museums spent a lot of time there and took thousands of photos including hundreds of me. He published a book with probably a hundred photos of nudists doing ordinary things. Three photos in that book are of me at age 3, 6 and 9 years of age. As a souvenir he gave my parents a copy and I ended up with it when my parents passed away. Some years later I discovered it illegal to own in about half the states. I still have it. It contains the only copies I have of photos of myself from that period of my life. It does not fall under federal law due to the way the photos are presented but many states would arrest me for having it even though it contains photos of me. I am also the youngest subject in the book. The next youngest two were teens at the time and you can't see anything and the rest were adults over 18. You can see me in my entirety. One of those photos currently hangs in a major art museum. But ignorance rules half the states in this country.

Books are banned for a variety of reasons, some legitimate some not. I have since collected over 100 books that are currently illegal to own in various countries and have gotten autographs for most and I have about 200 books formerly banned in various places including a handful mentioned in this video. One is a book in Latin and Greek that was published in 1597 that contains a large number of what are today called spells and incantations. Ownership of that book would result in the death penalty in most of Europe the year it was published. Even today it is controversial. That is one of my favorites. It also belonged to one of my ancestors though I don't think she actually used it for casting spells.

[theverseshed]

Normally, I get really peed off when promos for a sponsor are dropped into an upload, often without a break, and often disrupting the whole flow of a discussion. This is one of the few examples where it was not only relevant but genuinely useful to know about.
One of the best-ever Rob Words videos. Fascinating.
This whole theme, and Rob's visit to the museum, deserves a follow-up video featuring other and/or less well known examples of censorship and/or banning.

[kirstenriehl]

Interesting that there is a section with grammar books. So many languages have been forbidden all over the world. How powerful languages can be when governments fear them!

[FilosophicalPharmer]

“Freedom of Speech is meaningless unless those who think differently are allowed to speak.”

[believeinpeace]

I’m so bummed! I was just in Tallinn, but didn’t watch this until today. My hotel was very near the museum. Oh well, you explained it well. I fell in love with Estonia. Thank you

[doommarauder]

Clerk seems like a great guy. Doing a great job for humanity.

[erinboes]

Thank you so much for this video! Love the topic of banned books! My high school in Houston always made a big deal about making sure banned books were absolutely available to us, and celebrated banned books week every year.