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A review of The Rape of Nanking

by Iris Chang

A beautiful and moving historical account of one of the worst massacres in human history

Reviewed by: Alan McClymont
About Alan McClymont

The Rape of Nanking Having lived in China for about two years, the history of the country started to intrigue me and for a period I read as much as I could about the past 100 years. During this time one of the most intriguing pieces of history which came to my attention was the Rape of Nanking. Not only was it interesting because of what happened but also because of how few people know the story of what happened.

As a brief introduction, the Japanese took over the Chinese city of Nanking as the government of China (led by Chiang-Kai-Shek) fled in 1937. The two countries had been at war for some time and the Japanese were rapidly taking over the whole country. What happened next was probably one of the most horrific massacres in the history of the world. The Japanese troops systematically raped, tortured and murdered everyone that they could. Conservative estimates suggest that at least 300,000 people were killed in 2 weeks, many in killing 'competitions' between Japanese officers.

Chang sets out to make people aware of what happened and to encourage people to never let such an atrocity to happen again. She (and others like her) face much opposition, especially from the Japanese government who (until recently) refused to even acknowledge that this happened.

Chang is obviously a talented historian and this book seems to have been thoroughly researched. From the very beginning she admits that this is a point by point account of what took place (and only that which can be verified by fact) as opposed to the story of what happened. Even with this approach it never slips into a simple counting of numbers and always gives a human edge to the facts and figures which you are reading.

The book is written from three very distinct points of view. These are from the Japanese, the Chinese and from a group of Westerners who remained in the city throughout. The material is taken from interviews, diaries and various documents which remain from the time. This gives the book a sense of realism which many other studies are missing.

I read much of the book with tears in my eyes and disbelief at how this could ever happen. I cried for all of the people who had died and for the horrible ways in which many of them had met their deaths. More than that, however, I cried for the fact that someone had taken the time to sit down and to attempt to catalogue what had happened to them and to make sure that the world never forgot them. I defy anyone to read it without feeling the same way.

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Copyright © by Alan McClymont, 2003

Reviewed by Alan McClymont :
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-- Round Ireland with a fridge - by Tony Hawks
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-- The Rape of Nanking - by Iris Chang
-- Timeline - by Michael Crichton
-- How to Be Good - by Nick Hornby
-- Notes from a Small Island - by Bill Bryson
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-- Wilt - by Tom Sharpe
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