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Most banned works, proxy-ranked by sales

Page 1 of 5

This ranking is still a proxy. For now it sorts the current corpus by estimated copies sold, while the long-term plan is to rank by breadth, duration, and population affected by government bans.

  1. 1
    The Bible

    Various authors • Ancient compilation

    5,000,000,000 estimated copies
  2. 2
    The Quran

    Traditionally attributed to revelations received by Muhammad • 7th century

    800,000,000 estimated copies
  3. 3
    Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

    Lewis Carroll • 1865

    100,000,000 estimated copies
  4. 4
    The Da Vinci Code

    Dan Brown • 2003

    80,000,000 estimated copies
  5. 5
    Lolita

    Vladimir Nabokov • 1955

    50,000,000 estimated copies
  6. 6
    Nineteen Eighty-Four

    George Orwell • 1949

    30,000,000 estimated copies
  7. 7
    Animal Farm

    George Orwell • 1945

    20,000,000 estimated copies
  8. 8
    Oliver Twist

    Charles Dickens • 1838

    20,000,000 estimated copies
  9. 9
    Uncle Tom's Cabin

    Harriet Beecher Stowe • 1852

    20,000,000 estimated copies
  10. 10
    For Whom the Bell Tolls

    Ernest Hemingway • 1940

    15,000,000 estimated copies
  11. 11
    Frankenstein

    Mary Shelley • 1818

    15,000,000 estimated copies
  12. 12
    The Grapes of Wrath

    John Steinbeck • 1939

    14,000,000 estimated copies
  13. 13
    Brave New World

    Aldous Huxley • 1932

    12,000,000 estimated copies
  14. 14
    Mein Kampf

    Adolf Hitler • 1925

    12,000,000 estimated copies
  15. 15
    Peyton Place

    Grace Metalious • 1956

    12,000,000 estimated copies
  16. 16
    Ulysses

    James Joyce • 1922

    10,000,000 estimated copies
  17. 17
    The House of the Spirits

    Isabel Allende • 1982

    7,000,000 estimated copies
  18. 18
    No Game No Life

    Yuu Kamiya • 2012-

    6,000,000 estimated copies
  19. 19
    The Autobiography of Malcolm X

    Malcolm X, Alex Haley • 1965

    6,000,000 estimated copies
  20. 20
    Doctor Zhivago

    Boris Pasternak • 1957

    5,000,000 estimated copies