The Rape of Nanking
The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II
Basic Books · Print & ebook · January 10, 2012
The New York Times bestselling account of one of history's most brutal—and forgotten—massacres, when the Japanese army destroyed China's capital city on the eve of World War II “Chang vividly, methodically, records what happened, piecing together the abundant eyewitness reports into an undeniable tapestry of horror.” —Adam Hochschild, Salon In December 1937, the Japanese army swept into the ancient city of Nanking.
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- Who it’s for
- Severe, direct history that reads as both explanation and reckoning.
- Genres
- WWII Pacific Theater, Chinese History, Japanese History
- Published
- Basic Books, January 10, 2012
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The New York Times bestselling account of one of history's most brutal—and forgotten—massacres, when the Japanese army destroyed China's capital city on the eve of World War II “Chang vividly, methodically, records what happened, piecing together the abundant eyewitness reports into an undeniable tapestry of horror.” —Adam Hochschild, Salon In December 1937, the Japanese army swept into the ancient city of Nanking.
Continue reading
Within weeks, more than 300,000 Chinese civilians and soldiers were systematically raped, tortured, and murdered—a death toll exceeding that of the atomic blasts of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. Historian Iris Chang tells the story from three perspectives: that of the Japanese soldiers, that of the Chinese, and that of a group of Westerners who refused to abandon the city and created a safety zone that saved almost 300,000 Chinese. More than just narrating the details of an orgy of violence, in The Rape of Nanking Chang analyzes the militaristic culture that fostered in the Japanese soldiers a total disregard for human life. It also tells of the concerted effort during the Cold War on the part of the West and even China to stifle open discussion of this atrocity. Drawing on extensive interviews with survivors and documents brought to light for the first time, Iris Chang’s classic is the definitive history of this horrifying episode.
Hard History
Severe, direct history that reads as both explanation and reckoning.
Come here for
- hard-edged wartime history
- cultural context with moral force
Expect
- World War II frame
- unflinching tone
Where it sits
| WWII Pacific Theater | 90% |
|---|---|
| Japanese History | 62% |
| Chinese History | 50% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Chinese History
- Japanese History
- World War II History
- 20th-Century History
- Authors
- Iris Chang, Anna Fields, Blackstone Audio, Inc.
- Publisher
- Basic Books
- Published
- January 10, 2012
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Reading lane
- Chinese History