Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II by Iris Chang

26 reviews

bringlaurasnacks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

What can you even say about this book? It was horrifying, but I could not stop reading. This account of the real events of the Japanese atrocities in Nanking and by extension the rest of China during WWII will haunt you. It is a further crime against humanity how unaware the general public is of these events.

Beyond the historical accounts I found the second half of this book nearly as troubling as the first. I could not help but draw parallels between Japan's attempt to censor and minimize their own crimes (can we just call this genocide?) in texts and their education system to the current attempt to purge black history from the American school systems. This is an absolutely necessary read for every citizen of the world. "As Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel warned years ago, to forget a holocaust is to kill twice."

"Apparently some quirk in human nature allows even the most unspeakable acts of evil to become banal within minutes, provided only that they occur far enough away to pose. O personal threat." -Iris Chang

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Murder, Colonisation, and War

nina_rae_131's review against another edition

challenging dark informative medium-paced

5.0

Not for the faint of heart. It was very difficult to read, but I’m glad I did. It was very informative and well structured. 
I believe it’s still relevant today: 
“And there is yet a third lesson to be learned, one that is perhaps the most distressing of all. It lies in the frightening ease with which the mind can accept genocide, turning us all into passive spectators to the unthinkable. The Rape of Nanking was front-page news across the world, and yet most of the world stood by and did nothing while an entire city was butchered.” p221

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Police brutality, Murder, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Slavery, Medical content, and Trafficking

Minor: Drug use and Suicide

readerofdafuk's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

4.5

Jesus Christ this is some dark shit

I knew it was bad but Holy Shit 
Did well to explain the mentality of why it happened but man this was a brutal read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and War

birddie's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

This is the hardest book l've ever read. It's sad I'm 24 years old and this is the first and only time l've heard of this. It's even more sad that the stories and crimes in this book aren't even unique. This is something that's happening in our world right now. We don't learn about our history any more and that's why it repeats itself...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

caidyn's review against another edition

dark emotional informative fast-paced

4.5

An upsetting read that highlights just one atrocity in China that the occupying Japanese committed. Very well researched and just so sad.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Murder, and War

angemelb's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

Such a difficult read,  so many tragic events to have happened to the Chinese people outlined in this book.  I struggled through certain sections and needed to reflect many times.  Iris Chang's writing style was compelling,  easy to work through and insightful.  One of those books that will stay with me for ages. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and War

vapblack's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective sad fast-paced

She has obvious anti socialist biases, but she grew up in usa so that's expected. 

As long as you're aware of her bias, it's a good and informative book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Excrement, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Classism

gaeliloveweiss's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

wellreadandhalfdead's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Gore, Incest, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War

sgallagherr's review against another edition

challenging dark informative medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Incest, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Colonisation, and War