The Rape of Nanking is both an insightful and fascinating book, yet is incredibly difficult to read. The subject matter is depressing, and although it is written in an easy-to-read style, it does not hide the fact that this is a wartime atrocity. The author, Iris Chang, is born in America to Chinese parents who had heard stories of the Rape of Nanking as children, and passed them along to Chang. Her interest in the subject is personal, and her mission is to make the forgotten holocaust of World War II part of the public consciousness. Chang’s insight is unique in that she focuses on interviewing survivors and finding first-hand accounts and other primary sources, both in English and Chinese. Although not many Japanese sources are consulted,…show more content… Although more than three stayed to create the International Committee and Nanking Safe Zone (a small area consisting of two colleges and some government buildings), Chang focuses on John Rabe, Robert Wilson, and Wilhelmina Vautrin. Without the heroism like these people, it is estimated that over 200,000 more Chinese would have been killed at the hands of the Japanese. Chang focuses greatly on Rabe and his diary entries because they were so detailed, and she quotes them to tell us about life in the Nanking Safety Zone. Rabe is a German Nazi Party member who uses his Nazi connections to prevent as many atrocities as possible, sometimes just wearing the swastika was enough, and although he is successful, he is also very limited in what he can do. That seems to be the theme among the foreigners – although intentions were good, and they offered and gave help to many Chinese, the foreigners were unable to prevent much. Three hundred thousand plus Chinese were still…show more content… The Japanese believed any involvement with China would be quick at the beginning of the Sino-Japanese War, so when fighting in Shanghai lasted longer than thought, the Japanese were ready to take their anger out when they got to Nanking. The Japanese also partook in a “three-all policy (Loot all, kill all, burn all) in northern China” (Chang, p. 215). Entire villages were wiped out from the last person to the last farm animal, and this mindset could have carried over into Nanking. For me, Chang missed the question of the Chinese involvement. In no way am I blaming the victim, but how did thousands of Chinese go willingly into systematic execution, when they vastly outnumbered the Japanese? She never gives an outright answer to this question, and though one might not exist, I personally think it is much more than just the disjointed Chinese climate she alludes