Review of 'The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Absolutely gripping and incredibly sad.
290 pages
English language
Published Nov. 1, 1998 by Penguin Books.
The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II
the forgotten holocaust of World War II
by Iris Chang
4 stars
(12 reviews)
The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II is a bestselling 1997 non-fiction book written by Iris Chang about the 1937–1938 Nanking Massacre, the massacre and atrocities committed by the Imperial Japanese Army after it captured Nanjing, then capital of China, during the Second Sino-Japanese War. It describes the events leading up to the Nanking Massacre and the atrocities that were committed. The book presents the view that the Japanese government has not done enough to redress the atrocities. It is one of the first major English-language books to introduce the Nanking Massacre to Western and Eastern readers alike, and has been translated into several languages.The book received both acclaim and criticism by the public and by academics. It has been praised as a work that "shows more clearly than any previous account" the extent and brutality of the episode, while at the same time elements of …
The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II is a bestselling 1997 non-fiction book written by Iris Chang about the 1937–1938 Nanking Massacre, the massacre and atrocities committed by the Imperial Japanese Army after it captured Nanjing, then capital of China, during the Second Sino-Japanese War. It describes the events leading up to the Nanking Massacre and the atrocities that were committed. The book presents the view that the Japanese government has not done enough to redress the atrocities. It is one of the first major English-language books to introduce the Nanking Massacre to Western and Eastern readers alike, and has been translated into several languages.The book received both acclaim and criticism by the public and by academics. It has been praised as a work that "shows more clearly than any previous account" the extent and brutality of the episode, while at the same time elements of Chang's analysis of the motivations for the events, Japanese culture, and her calculation of the total numbers killed and raped were criticized by some as "seriously flawed" and "full of misinformation and harebrained explanations." Chang's research on the book was credited with the finding of the diaries of John Rabe and Minnie Vautrin, both of whom played important roles in the Nanking Safety Zone, a designated area in Nanjing that protected Chinese civilians during the Nanking Massacre.“…Nanking should be remembered not only for the number of people slaughtered but for the cruel manner in which many met their deaths. Chinese men were used for bayonet practice and in decapitation contests. An estimated 20,000 – 80,000 Chinese women were raped. Many soldiers went beyond rape to disembowel women, slice off their breasts, and nail them alive to walls. Fathers were forced to rape their daughters, and sons their mothers, as other family members watched. Not only did live burials, castration, the carving of organs, and the roasting of people become routine, but more diabolical tortures were practiced, such as hanging people by their tongues on iron hooks or burying people to their waists and watching them get torn apart by German shepherds. So sickening was the spectacle that even Nazis in the city were horrified, one proclaiming the massacre to be the work of bestial machinery.”The book prompted AOL executive Ted Leonsis to fund and produce Nanking, a 2007 documentary film about the eponymous massacre.
Review of 'The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This is a terrible and important book. Iris Chang is certainly right in her estimation that few Americans know about the Rape of Nanking but that Americans almost universally know something about the Holocaust. I can't recall having encountered anything in public school regarding the subject, probably because it's relegated to non-U.S. History and not officially considered part of World War II in most public school curricula.
Either way, in lieu of actual memoirs or diaries (in English) documenting the harrowing experiences of the Japanese pillaging and mass murder in Nanking, this book will have to suffice for most readers. Be warned, though, that as the title suggests this book does not sugarcoat the events that transpired in Nanking and discusses the atrocities in brutal, visceral language that will unnerve and trouble many, as it should.
I believe that Chang gave the basic events and narrative of what happened a …
This is a terrible and important book. Iris Chang is certainly right in her estimation that few Americans know about the Rape of Nanking but that Americans almost universally know something about the Holocaust. I can't recall having encountered anything in public school regarding the subject, probably because it's relegated to non-U.S. History and not officially considered part of World War II in most public school curricula.
Either way, in lieu of actual memoirs or diaries (in English) documenting the harrowing experiences of the Japanese pillaging and mass murder in Nanking, this book will have to suffice for most readers. Be warned, though, that as the title suggests this book does not sugarcoat the events that transpired in Nanking and discusses the atrocities in brutal, visceral language that will unnerve and trouble many, as it should.
I believe that Chang gave the basic events and narrative of what happened a fair treatment and put it into prose that is lucid and understandable for any interested reader. However, she goes into some detail criticizing the United States and other powers for not intervening in Nanking to stop the atrocities. I am not sure this is a fair criticism, considering it is hard to imagine the United States intervening in the Second Sino-Japanese War under any circumstances less than something akin to Pearl Harbor. On the other hand, European powers who had colonial interests in the region were already preoccupied with the rise of the Nationalist Socialist Party in Germany. There are some Westerners who play a prominent role in Chang's narrative—especially John Rabe, a Nazi Party leader in Nanking who believed in Nationalist Socialism for its benefits to the working class and did not imbibe the anti-Semitic rhetoric that led to the Holocaust. Rabe was an indefatigable defender of the Chinese that he pulled into his safe zone created in Nanking. It is also saddening that Rabe, an individual who probably helped saved 200,000 lives in Nanking, became a penniless beggar after World War II because of his affiliations with the Nazi Party.
Highly recommended, especially to read alongside primary or secondary sources of the Holocaust.
Review of 'The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
This is a freakin intense book. I can't really say which other book made me as physically uncomfortable while reading. In terms of fiction it may very well have been The Painted Bird, in terms of non-fiction it could be Escape from Camp 14.
The Rape of Nanking is in its first half a pretty detailed account of just this: How the Japanese forces occupied Nanking during WW2 and proceeded to kill, torture and rape the civilian population, making it one of the largest atrocities of war ever committed. The accounts are pretty intense and are told from three perspectives: The Japanese aggressors, the Chinese population and some German & American foreigners living in Nanking and how they helped saving the Chinese population. Amongst others, the story of John Rabe is told, a Nazi living & working in Nanking, who became the 'Oskar Schindler of China', saving thousands …
This is a freakin intense book. I can't really say which other book made me as physically uncomfortable while reading. In terms of fiction it may very well have been The Painted Bird, in terms of non-fiction it could be Escape from Camp 14.
The Rape of Nanking is in its first half a pretty detailed account of just this: How the Japanese forces occupied Nanking during WW2 and proceeded to kill, torture and rape the civilian population, making it one of the largest atrocities of war ever committed. The accounts are pretty intense and are told from three perspectives: The Japanese aggressors, the Chinese population and some German & American foreigners living in Nanking and how they helped saving the Chinese population. Amongst others, the story of John Rabe is told, a Nazi living & working in Nanking, who became the 'Oskar Schindler of China', saving thousands of people.
Did I already say, it's pretty intense and I recommend taking breaks while reading.
The second half of the book goes on to explain why you most likely never heard of Nanking (I for one never heard about this before reading this book), how the different nations dealt with the aftermath and also what became of some of the people who survived the Rape of Nanking. Which for the most part is also pretty frustrating and bleak. Just in case you should have believed that everything will be fine in the end.
Recommended for: Everyone should suffer through this great book, lest we forget.
Review of 'The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I can't say this was enjoyable reading, but it was certainly shocking. It's a part of history that we should know about. In December of 1937, Nanking, China, fell to the Japanese. This book is a history of what the Japanese army did to the people of Nanking and how it still affects Chinese-Japanese relations. The Chinese people suffered hard and long during WWII, long before the US was involved.
Subjects
- Nanking Massacre, Nan-ching shih, China, 1937
- Nan-ching shih (China) -- History