Mystery/Crime Fiction

» TMF - Censorship as Public Deprivation or Public Protection?

Some of the most egregious acts in history have been performed either in the name of a book or with one as their primary justification. Some of these notorious texts have been religious in nature - the Malleus Maleficarum (The Witches' Hammer) wielded by the Spanish Inquisition, for example, while others were ideological, such as Hitler's pseudo-autobiography Mein Kampf. The role that such volatile books play in modern literary society is an ever-heated issue, with almost as many people arguing that their historic significance demands unfettered exposure, if only to act as warnings for the future, as those who counter with the view that these books must be shut away from open public access (i.e. banned from print or sale, etc.) in order to quell the hate they inspire.

This being the Recommended Reading section, I'm curious regarding your opinions on not only the good books out there, but the evil ones as well.

-- posted by TMF