This month's Cumberland council book ban in Western Sydney shocked much of the country, but around the world the leash can be a lot tighter on literature that's deemed dangerous by autocracies and religious extremists.

In a five-part series, producer of the Book Show Sarah L'Estrange has explored book bans, from the United States, the censorship of web-fiction in China, even the story of Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses.

Guest:Sarah L'Estrange, host of 'Banned Books'