{"product_id":"9781771966634","title":"On Book Banning","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA Finalist for the 2026 Writers' Trust Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing • A \u003cem\u003eWinnipeg Free Press\u003c\/em\u003e Best Book of 2025\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe freedom to read is under attack.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom the destruction of libraries in ancient Rome to today’s state-sponsored efforts to suppress LGBTQ+ literature, book bans arise from the impulse toward social control. In a survey of legal cases, literary controversies, and philosophical arguments, Ira Wells illustrates the historical opposition 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 opposing viewpoints is outright expurgation. At a moment in which our democratic institutions are buckling under the stress of polarization, \u003cem\u003eOn Book Banning\u003c\/em\u003e is both rallying cry and guide to resistance for those who will always insist upon reading for themselves.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ira Wells (CA)","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback Trade paperback (US)","offer_id":43066802012227,"sku":"9781771966634","price":21.95,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0678\/3523\/2323\/files\/BNCImageAPI_94a0b983-d202-4f06-89dd-935731a9f0b8.jpg?v=1774443423","url":"https:\/\/thebookshop613.ca\/products\/9781771966634","provider":"The Bookshop 613","version":"1.0","type":"link"}