Jim N. (jazzbo) reviewed The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II on + 18 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
A tragedy that had it occurred any other country, the world outcry would have been loud and long, but because it is China the silence is deafening. Why were no war crimes trials held for those responsible as held at Nuremberg? Why so little written and so much ignored? Iris Chang was concerned about the lack of written material about the atrocities that occurred to the Nanking residents during WWII by the Japanese and this book is the result of those concerns. The reader should be forewarned that Chang has been very graphic in describing the actions and the inhuman treatment of the Japanese soldiers. While not the magnitude of the German holocaust in total numbers, it is easy to understand why the Chinese view Nanking as their holocaust. I believe it is worth reading just to understand the issues that confront the Chinese & Japanese even today.
Ross M. (Parrothead) reviewed The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II on + 533 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
China has endured much hardship in its history, as Iris Chang shows in her ably researched The Rape of Nanking, a book that recounts the horrible events in that eastern Chinese city under Japanese occupation in the late 1930s. Nanking, she writes, served as a kind of laboratory in which Japanese soldiers were taught to slaughter unarmed, unresisting civilians, as they would later do throughout Asia. Likening their victims to insects and animals, the Japanese commanders orchestrated a campaign in which several hundred thousand--no one is sure just how many--Chinese soldiers and noncombatants alike were killed. Chang turns up an unlikely hero in German businessman John Rabe, a devoted member of the Nazi party who importuned Adolf Hitler to intervene and stop the slaughter, and who personally saved the lives of countless residents of Nanking. She also suggests that the Japanese government pay reparations and apologize for its army's horrific acts of 60 years ago.
AMAZON.COM REVIEW
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Vicki C. (vdcster) reviewed The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II on + 42 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
A compelling and interesting book, but extremely difficult to read due to descriptions of explicit violence toward women and children.
Robert G. (burosky) reviewed The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II on + 9 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
A very riveting and engaging read.
Helpful Score: 1
An amazing book. So little is known about this period. What happened to the Chinese during World War II got lost in the revolution and the Cold War. The Japanese have tried to ignore what happened. Iris Chang researched the stories of the Chinese, Japanese and Westerners who lived during this nightmare. It is a must read for it helps understand current attitudes in Asia.
