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

A solid book about a horrifying subject. Straight-forward to read—heavy in subject but not in prose.

The shear number of victims in this tragedy almost make it hard for a book like this to humanize the event and the singular pains of each of the victims; nonetheless, Iris did a good job pulling forward the humanity with individual stories of the victims.

Reading about the International Safety Zone was especially riveting—it’s amazing that so few were able to save so many.

It’s kind of crazy how much this is glossed over in the history classes I took over the years. This is my first foray into learning about the Sino-Japanese war, but it won’t be my last.

Book cover for The Rape of Nanking
The Rape of Nanking
The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II
Iris Chang
history
★★★★