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Book Cover for: The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II, Iris Chang

The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II

Iris Chang

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In December 1937, flush with confidence from their victories over the Nationalists in Beijing and Shanghai, the Japanese Army swept into Nanking and, over the next seven weeks, looted and burned the city and systematically raped, brutalized and murdered more than 250,000 defenseless civilians. Officially denied by the Japanese government, the story of this atrocity has been suppressed for more than half a century. Now Iris Chang, a Chinese-American writer whose own grandparents survived the massacre, reveals the full horror of their experience and puts a human face on one of the century's worst horrors.

Chang tells the story from three very different perspectives: that of the Chinese who endured it; the Japanese soldiers who performed it; and that of a heroic group of European and American businessmen and clergy living in Nanking. Led by John Rabe, a German and a member of the Nazi party, these foreigners risked their own lives by defying the Japanese authorities and creating a safety zone in the middle of the city that harbored perhaps 100,000 Chinese.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Basic Books
  • Publish Date: Jan 10th, 2012
  • Pages: 360
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.10in - 5.40in - 1.00in - 0.75lb
  • EAN: 9780465068364
  • Recommended age: 18-UP
  • Categories: • Asia - China• Asia - Japan• Wars & Conflicts - World War II - General

About the Author

Iris Chang (1968-2004) lived and worked in California. A graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana, she was the recipient of the John T. and Catherine D. MacArthur Foundation's Program on Peace and International Cooperation award, as well as major grants from the National Science Foundation, the Pacific Cultural Foundation, and the Harry Truman Library.

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What people are saying

Mentioner image for: Virginia Postrel
Virginia Postrel
@vpostrel
3 years

Virginia Postrel is a writer and columnist.

@NewLiberalsPod Iris Chang's The Rape of Nanking got a lot of attention, in part because the story was so unknown in the U.S. https://t.co/zhDv8DxExt

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KTVU
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Complete Bay Area News Coverage. Thanks for following us! If you tweet us, we may use it on our digital platforms and TV.

Before San Jose author Iris Chang’s book “The Rape of Nanking" was published in 1997 – few in the West knew about the atrocities in the former Chinese capital during the outbreak of World War II. https://t.co/GNguYViAiF

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Mentioner image for: Mark - 🇦🇺🇮🇹 - he/him - GAD | MDD | ADHD
Mark - 🇦🇺🇮🇹 - he/him - GAD | MDD | ADHD
@UnluckyWanderer
1 year

I cannot imagine happiness, for I am under no delusions of my circumstances. https://t.co/ftRRpVivLc

"When you believe you have a future, you think in terms of generations and years. When you do not, you live not just by the day — but by the minute." - Iris Chang, author of "The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II."

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Praise for this book

"Iris Chang's research on the Nanking holocaust yields a new and expanded telling of this World War II atrocity and reflects thorough research. The book is excellent; its story deserves to be heard."--Beatrice S. Bartlett, professor of history, Yale University
"Heartbreaking.... An utterly compelling book. The descriptions of the atrocities raise fundamental questions not only about imperial Japanese militarism but the psychology of the torturers, rapists, and murderers."--Frederic Wakeman, director of the Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley
"Something beautiful, an act of justice, is occurring in America today concerning something ugly that happened long ago.... Because of Chang s book, the second rape of Nanking is ending."--George F. Will, syndicated columnist
"In her important new book ... Iris Chang, whose own grandparents were survivors, recounts the grisly massacre with understandable outrage."--Orville Schell, The New York Times Book Review
"Anyone interested in the relation between war, self-righteousness, and the human spirit will find The Rape of Nanking of fundamental importance. It is scholarly, an exciting investigation, and a work of passion. In places it is almost unbearable to read, but it should be readonly if the past is understood can the future be navigated."--Ross Terrill, author of Mao, China in Our Time, and Madame Mao
"Chang vividly, methodically, records what happened, piecing together the abundant eyewitness reports into an undeniable tapestry of horror."--Adam Hochschild, Salon
"A very readable, well-organized account...Chang has rescued this episode from its undeserved obscurity."--Russell Jenkins, National Review
"The story that Chang tells is almost to appalling for words...a carefully documented cry of moral outrage."--Houston Chronicle
"Chang reminds us that however blinding the atrocities in Nanking may be, they are not forgettable--at least without peril to civilization itself."--The Detroit News
"A compelling piece of history that speaks volumes about humankind's inhumanity in the atrocities that have been documented and offers some vestiges of hope in the individual acts of heroism that also have been uncovered."--San Jose Mercury News
"One of the most important books of the twentieth century, Iris Chang's The Rape of Nanking wil endure as a classic among the world's histories of war."--Nancy Tong, producer and co-director of In the Name of the Emperor
"The first comprehensive examination of the destruction of this Chinese imperial city...Ms. Chang, whose grandparents narrowly escaped the carnage, has skillfully excavated from oblivion the terrible events that took place." --The Wall Street Journal
"A powerful, landmark book, riveting in its horror." --Richard Rhodes
"Meticulously Researched...A gripping account that holds the reader's attention from beginning to end." --Nien Cheng, author of Life and Death in Shanghai
"A powerful new work of history and moral inquiry. Chang takes great care to establish an accurate accounting of the dimensions of the violence."--Chicago Tribune

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