Chang writes in horrifying details about the Japanese invasion of Nanking in December 1937 and it’s aftermath. Chang states “The rape of Nanking should be perceived as a cautionary tell, an illustration of how easily human beings can be encouraged to allow their teenagers to be molded into efficient killing machines able to suppress their better natures.”

The beginning of the book overviews the rape of Nanking and then in subsequent chapters goes into details overviewed in the beginning of the book.

Chang relays first hand accounts of survivors of the Japanese brutality. She recounts the story of a man who left a safe hiding spot to see if the Japanese really looked like Chinese people. When he was spotted he tried to hide in a garbage bin with another man. The other man was killed and he was rounded up and taken to a pit where men were lined up and the Japanese soldiers had a competition to see who could behead the most prisoners.

He was knocked into the pit when the person next to him was beheaded and it went unnoticed by the soldiers. Bodies continued to pile up on him and the Japanese soldiers bayoneted the pile to ensure no one survived. That night his friends went to find his body and found him still alive. He was the only one who survived that encounter.

The book also outlines the story of John Rabe, the leader of the Nazi party in Nanking, and the role he played in saving an thousands of Chinese lives. Rape and murder were central to the occupation of Nanking.

Chang states “I would have to conclude that Japan’s behavior during World War II was less a product of dangerous people than of a dangerous government in a vulnerable culture in dangerous times able to sell dangerous rationalizations to those whose human instincts told them otherwise.”

Overall this is an important historical book to read. Some of the organization of the book could have been better. I rate this book 4.5 out of 5 stars.