Book burning is the practice of destroying by way of fire, often ceremoniously, one or more copies of a book or added written material. In modern days, other forms of media, like video tapes, phonograph records, and CDs have also been ceremoniously burned, torched, or shredded. The practice, generally carried out in public, is normally motivated by moral, religious, or political objections to the material.

Few particular cases of book burning are lengthy and traumatically remembered - for the reason that the books destroyed were irreplaceable and their loss constituted a severe harm to cultural heritage, and/or as this instance of book burning has become emblematic of a harsh and oppressive regime. Such were the damage of the Library of Alexandria, the burning of books and burying of scholars in China's Qin Dynasty, the destruction of Mayan codices by Spanish Conquistadors and priests, and in more latest times, Nazi book burnings.