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bringlaurasnacks's review against another edition
5.0
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
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Murder, Colonisation, and War
hollyoparker's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Rape, Murder, and War
nina_rae_131's review against another edition
5.0
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
Graphic: Genocide, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Police brutality, Murder, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Slavery, Medical content, and Trafficking
Minor: Drug use and Suicide
purplepickle's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Mental illness, Cannibalism, and Abandonment
eheidenreich's review against another edition
4.5
Over 20 years after Chang wrote that statement & it is still applicable to the state of the world, if not more so. Where we can see the daily personal accounts of Palestinians experiencing a genocide and those in power have done nothing tangible to stop it. While reading the sections regarding the coverup and propaganda used to quell the outrage around the massacre, I couldn't help but continually draw parallels to current events. It is incredibly disappointing to be reminded that history has and will continue to repeat itself.
Well written documentation on atrocities that many governments seem keen to forget/suppress. I gave this 4.5 stars because I felt some of the organization of events in the beginning was hard to follow.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Racism, Kidnapping, and War
Minor: Drug use, Incest, Suicide, and Cannibalism
jasisreading's review against another edition
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
thewallner's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Genocide, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Xenophobia, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War
readerofdafuk's review against another edition
4.5
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
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
dmathuna's review against another edition
4.5
The sheer barbarity and brutality shown to the Chinese inhabitants of Nanjing is staggering and each page you uncover a new horror you previously thought incomprehensible. The detailing of how widespread the systematic rape of all women regardless of age, pregnancy, occupation churned my stomach in a way I don’t think has ever happened to me. I am absolutely forever changed by the contents of this book and it will never leave me for the rest of my life..
The fact that elements of Japanese society still can’t accept that this event occurred much less that their soldiers carried it out with explicit knowledge by their government leaders is tragic and should be a crime akin to denial of the holocaust. I can only hope that since the time the book was published that attitudes there have started to change. More than 300,000 people were murdered by the occupation and we did them a disservice by not remembering this event more.
At the time of me writing this review Iris Chang would have been 56.
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Miscarriage
violetblue's review
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail