The Rape of Nanking--BOOK REVIEW

As if the death of up to 400,000 Chinese in 6 weeks was not enough to turn your stomach the details of the grisly murders of women and children and the horrors of thousands of rapes certainly will. Like a watching train wreak, I couldn’t stop reading even though I was constantly suppressing the gag reflex. To say Iris Chang’s “The Rape of Nanking” is an enjoyable read is just wrong; but it is a great book. A must read if you want to understand a conscious part of the current Chinese psyche.Well written and researched, The Rape of Nanking details the Japanese invasion of the ancient Chinese capital of Nanjing from three distinct perspectives—the Japanese preparation, the Chinese victims and the foreign observers. These three perspectives are then further divided into the war crimes committed and the global “cover up” in the aftermath of WWII.Even after reading all of the gory details of the attack, probably the most revolting part of the book is the depth and breadth of the Japanese denial and the complicity of the world’s powers. Unlike the Germans who admitted, paid for and now teach about the holocaust to make sure it’s not forgotten, the Japanese have never even officially admitted that anything happened in Nanking. The rise of communism in the 40’s and 50’s made support of a stable Japan more important than the punishment of war-crimes against the Chinese. Since then it’s been conveniently forgotten by all but the Chinese.While hate is never excusable, reading this book will certainly help you understand much of the current feelings of the Chinese toward the Japanese.