Relates an account of the 1937 massacre of 250,000 Chinese civilians in Nanking by the invading Japanese military, a carnage for which the Japanese government has never admitted responsibility.
When the Japanese took over the Chinese city of Nanking in late 1937, they instituted a reign of terror and unspeakable violence, torturing and killing 300,000 Chinese civilians and soldiers in the span of mere weeks, and raping untold numbers of women and forcing them into military prostitution. A handful of Westerners in the city established The Nanking Safety Zone, which included a hospital for victims. Based on primary documents and interviews with survivors, this account integrates the perspectives of the Japanese, the Chinese, and Westerners. Author Chang also discusses the extended silence on the episode, in both China and the West, during the Cold War. The book includes historical b&w photos. This paperback reprint of the 1997 edition contains a new epilogue by the author's widower, which clears up some of the myths and misunderstandings about the author's life, career, mental illness, and suicide. The book was a New York Times bestseller and has been translated into 15 languages. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
"In December 1937, in what was then the capital of China, one of the most brutal massacres in the long annals of wartime barbarity occurred. The Japanese army swept into the ancient city of Nanking (Na"
In December 1937, the Japanese army swept into the ancient city of Nanking. 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. Using extensive interviews with survivors and newly discovered documents, Iris Chang has written the definitive history of this horrifying episode.