France

13 banned books·Ranked #12 of 76 countries

France prosecuted authors for obscenity and blasphemy throughout the 19th century, with high-profile trials against Flaubert (Madame Bovary) and Baudelaire (Les Fleurs du Mal) among the most famous. The principle of liberté d'expression is deeply embedded in French law and culture, and outright book bans became increasingly rare through the 20th century. France today is generally considered to have strong literary freedom, though some works have been banned on grounds of defamation or incitement.

Banned books

Emile, or On Education

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Non-fictionPoliticalReligious

Government / national · 1762 · lifted

Justine

Marquis de Sade

Literary fictionSexualOther

Government / national · 1791 · lifted

Justine, or the Misfortunes of Virtue

Marquis de Sade

Literary fictionSexualOther

Government / national · 1801 · lifted

Les 120 Journées de Sodome

Marquis de Sade

Literary fictionSexualOther

Government / national · 1904 · lifted

Les Fleurs du Mal

Charles Baudelaire

Literary fictionReligiousSexual

Government / national · 1857 · lifted

Les Onze Mille Verges

Guillaume Apollinaire

Literary fictionSexualOther

Government / national · 1907 · lifted

Lolita

Vladimir Nabokov

Lolita is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is notable for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, a middle-aged literature professor under the pseudonym Humbert Humbert, is obsessed with a 12-year-old girl, Dolores Haze, whom he sexually molests after he becomes her stepfather. "Lolita" is his private nickname for Dolores. The novel was originally written in English and first published in Paris in 1955 by Olympia Press. Lat

Literary fictionSexual

Government / national · 1956 · lifted