Book Club Precis

Jasmine Ho

Mr. Hayes

English 1A17 

19th February 2013 

Word Count: 427

The Rape of Nanking

Hi everyone, I’m writing to recommend that we use The Rape of Nanking:The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II by Iris Chang, an American historian and journalist, as one of our book club text.

The Second World War was a war that involved a vast majority of the world’s nations.  I’m sure that most of us are familiar with this famous global war, however, not very much people, especially in Western Countries, have heard of the Nanking massacre happened in this period, as Iris Chang said, it was a “forgotten holocaust of World War II.”

--The book is non-fiction.  It describes the massacre and atrocities committed by the Imperial Japanese Army after it captured Nanjing during the Second Sino-Japanese War.  It is the bestselling non-fiction book in 1997.

--Length: It has 290 pages, which meets the page requirement, and not too lengthy or short to be read.

--Difficulty: This might be a difficult book to read, since it depicted in detail the killing, torture, and rape that occurred during the Nanking Massacre.  The details of the merciless slaughter might be uneasy for the readers.  However, despite the details of the slaughter, the first person perspectives that Iris Chang chosen in writing this book should be interesting to readers, as we can “visualize” the Nanking massacre through the victims’ eyes.

I have read a book review by Daisy Wong, a Hong Kong author and columnist.

“Iris Chang has led readers and the newer generations to “get in touch” of the history, not a nation’s history, but human’s history.  By reading Chang’s book, we can know that how “good” can human be, on the contrary, how “cruel” can human be.  The Second Sino-Japanese War was not simply a matter between China and Japan, as long as you are a human, you have to know about it.”

By reading Wong’s review, I think this book is an informative and insightful one.  Since I am a Chinese, I have already known some of background of this massacre.  However, I believe even to those who do not know this history, Chang’s all-round and in-depth discussion of this history will make readers discover the importance of a nation facing and make reflections on their history.

--Availability: It’s all over the place, even at Barnes & Noble.  It is available for electronic version, hardcover and paperback, price ranging from $10.55 to $15.99.

I think this would be a great text to use in a book club, so please consider it.