Censors at work. How the state forms literature. 2nd edition, fixed. Darnton R.

The book of Harvard University Professor Robert Darnton “Censors at work” is a fascinating study of how censorship works in different circumstances and at different times. The author’s focus on the author of three plot far from each other is the Royalist France of the XVIII century, the colonial India of the XIX century and East Germany at the turn of the 1980-1990s. The author trails in numerous examples exactly how censorship worked, that the censors themselves thought about their work and how they interacted with the book market, including “black”. In the book, you can find colorful portraits of many representatives of the “shadow” book world - from the semi -literate regulars of the Parisian book markets to those who speak dozens of languages ​​of Bengal librarians.

Robert Darnton shows what contribution censorship made not only the cultural, but also in the economic and political life of society. Censorship suggested the coordinated work of many people, the plexus of the destinies and interests of which can resemble a fascinating detective novel.