Banned

National Archives of Australia

Hindsight is a marvellous thing, isn’t it? ‘Banned’ is a collection of prohibited book covers that fell foul of Australia’s stringent censorship guidelines during the course of the 20^th century. On display at the National Archives café, the collection features a curated selection of the 15,000 total books, magazines and comic titles that the Customs Act 1901 banned in Australia between the 1920s and the 1970s, a period during which our censorship laws were the amongst the strictest in the world. Some of the usual suspects are there (Lolita, Brave new World and Lady Chatterly’s Lover), but there are some more intriguing titles that have piqued QT’s interest: Hotel Wife and The Housekeeper’s Daughter? Sounds saucy!

For more information head here.