A review by ladee96
The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

4.75

"The Rape of Nanking" tells the harrowing story of Japan's destruction of the city Nanking preceding World War II. Iris Chang goes into heavy detail about the atrocities perpetuated by the Japanese within the first six weeks of them taking over the city, as well as highlighting those who put their lives on the line to save civilians. At times, some of the passages became very dense, and it did become difficult to get through.  One aspect of the book that I found to be the most interesting was Chang openly criticizing the Japanese government's attempts to block out this part of world history, and how they were able to come out of the event unscathed. Chang also brings up the fact that is event isn't taught in history curriculums in almost all schools at the time of the book's publication (1997).  Overall, this was an excellent and at times unsettling read, and it remains the definitive novel about the Rape of Nanking, and her book has helped to shed light on the dark chapters of Japan's history that they have tried to conceal. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings