1. The Satanic Verses - Salman Rushdie (1988)
Muslim-baiting book from committed leftist Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses caused probably the biggest stink ever in the literary world with millions of Muslims left offended and irate by Rushdie's book. Among the book's sins, Rushdie refers to Mohammed in a desultory fashion, calls Abraham a 'bastard', spits upon Islamic law and in general, pisses over Islamic beliefs and culture. Rushdie knew that the book would be controversial prior to its publishing, but he didn't bargain for the extreme reaction to the book in the Islamic world. Muslims found the book blasphemous and angrily called for the publishers to desist printing it. Within a month the book was withdrawn from India. Bans in further countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kenya and Sri Lanka. Bomb attacks on British and US book shops were perpetrated by Islamic extremists. On 14th February 1989, Shi'a Muslim leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwã against Rushdie and his publishers. A bounty was issued and Rushdie had to be given considerably expensive police protection by the British government due to the threat on his life. Britain even severed diplomatic relations with Iran over the whole Rushdie affair in 1989. Basically the entire affair led to oriental-occidental unrest and ill will. An apology from Rushdie was dismissed. In 1998, Britain sought to restore diplomatic relations with Iran under the proviso that the fatwã against Rushdie end. The Iranians gave a neutral answer, but groups within Iran still avowed to keep the fatwã and nail Rushdie some day. This is the only book I can think of that seriously affected not just national politics but also international relations. Some observers worried that Rushdie would become a modern day heretic and the Iranian government thought the book was a deliberate smear against Islam by a Western government. When Europeans realised the damage in the EU with lack of trade with Islamic countries, many of them took a hard stance against The Satanic verses. As of today, Salman Rushdie is walking around, hale and hearty and responsible for the biggest censorship debacle in modern memory