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The Rape of Nanking

The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II

By Iris Chang

(43)

| School & Library Binding | 9780613180771

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Book Description

In December 1937, the Japanese army swept into the ancient city of Nanking. Within weeks, more than 300,000 Chinese civilians were systematically raped, tortured, and murdered--a death toll exceeding that of the atomic blasts of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. Using extensive interviews with survivContinue

In December 1937, the Japanese army swept into the ancient city of Nanking. Within weeks, more than 300,000 Chinese civilians were systematically raped, tortured, and murdered--a death toll exceeding that of the atomic blasts of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. Using extensive interviews with survivors and newly discovered documents, Iris Chang has written what will surely be the definitive history of this horrifying episode. The Rape of Nanking tells the story from three perspectives: of the Japanese soldiers who performed it, of the Chinese civilians who endured it, and of a group of Europeans and Americans who refused to abandon the city and were able to create a safety zone that saved almost 300,000 Chinese. Among these was the Nazi John Rabe, an unlikely hero whom Chang calls the "Oskar Schindler of China" and who worked tirelessly to protect the innocent and publicize the horror. More than just narrating the details of an orgy of violence, The Rape of Nanking analyzes the militaristic culture that fostered in the Japanese soldiers a total disregard for human life. Finally, it tells the appalling story: about how the advent of the Cold War led to a concerted effort on the part of the West and even the Chinese to stifle open discussion of this atrocity. Indeed, Chang characterizes this conspiracy of silence, that persists to this day, as "a second rape."

5 Reviews

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  • 3 people find this helpful

    Iris Chang committed suicide in 2004 after long tormented and threatened by the Japanese right wings. Obstructed by local influences, the Japanese version of The Rape of Nanking still remains unpublished.

    Amidst conformity and ignorance, Miss Chang fearlessly ferreted out this snippet of lost ... (continue)

    Iris Chang committed suicide in 2004 after long tormented and threatened by the Japanese right wings. Obstructed by local influences, the Japanese version of The Rape of Nanking still remains unpublished.

    Amidst conformity and ignorance, Miss Chang fearlessly ferreted out this snippet of lost history which should not be forgotten( to both the Chinese and the Japanese) and recounted it through three perspectives ( from the Chinese, the Japanese, and a group of westerners).

    Furthermore, the writer' attempt to account for the why Japan, which was and is adulated as a highly civilized , cultured country, could precipitate such a calamity is profoundly shocking.

    As those westerners who sacrificed their lives for saving the Chinese civilians in Nanking, Iris Chang can be seen as an equal for her unbending will to speak out the truth, as a moral beacon that dwarfed all the others around.

    Her story should be remembered and read with respect.

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    worrywalt said on Jun 12, 2008 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • I am one of the billions who didn't know about this gruesome page of history. The book of Chang takes the reader by hand and allows one to go on through pages of facts that push you to wonder about the true way of thinking and acting of mankind. Worth to be read, although it leaves the heart bleedin ... (continue)

    I am one of the billions who didn't know about this gruesome page of history. The book of Chang takes the reader by hand and allows one to go on through pages of facts that push you to wonder about the true way of thinking and acting of mankind. Worth to be read, although it leaves the heart bleeding, and the head too much in a wondering.

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    Bloknotes said on Nov 5, 2010 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • The Rape of Nanking

    One of the worst and most infamous atrocities is known as the Rape of Nanking, the full horror of which came to the attention of the United States and the English speaking world in one of the most shocking and disturbing books I have personally ever read: The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust ... (continue)

    One of the worst and most infamous atrocities is known as the Rape of Nanking, the full horror of which came to the attention of the United States and the English speaking world in one of the most shocking and disturbing books I have personally ever read: The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II by Iris Chang, published in 1997. Ms. Chang was a first generation Chinese-American from a highly cultivated and educated background. Her parents, who had escaped the Rape of Nanking and emigrated through Taiwan to the United States, were both university professors.

    If you have a chance to read it then I urge you to do so. Obviously I give it five stars for it shines a light on the far lesser known genocide in the Far East committed by the Japanese against the Chinese beginning with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 and the subsequent breakout of total war between the two countries in 1937.

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    Charles McCain said on Oct 23, 2010 | Add your feedback

  • Very informative and not a easy read. Truth is alway hard to digest. I always knew the cruelty expressed by Japanese during the war but to read the gruesome details bring another dimension of the suffering of the Chinese people.

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    Sophy said on Oct 5, 2010 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

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9780613180771 School & Library Binding $28.20 $22.56 bn.com
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