Includes bibliographical references.

"The freedom to read is under attack. From the destruction of libraries in ancient Rome to today's state-sponsorded efforts to suppress LGBTQ+ literature, book bans arise from the impulse toward social control. In a survey of legal cases, literary controversis, and philosophical arguments, Ira Wekks illustrated the historical oppisition to the freedom to read and argues that today's conservatives and progressives alike are warping our children's relationship with literature and teaching them that the solution to oppising viewpints is outright expurgation. at a moment in which our democratic institutions ar ebucking under the stress of polarization, this book is both rallying cry and guide to resistance for those who will always insist upon reading for themselves." --Back cover.

N/A (1 copy prof. coll. ) ak