A book (and history) can be a powerful reminder.

[Betty]

The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang is one of the scariest books I've ever read. It's a powerful reminder of why I carry a gun every day, why I'll bug-out if it hits the fan, why I'll never be taken down without a fight, and why I, as a female, know that there's something that can be far worse than death.

And I've only read 2/3 of the book. I've had to put it down for a while.

Japan invaded China and took over Nanking in 1937, exterminating over 260,000 noncombatants. The methods of torture and death are too harsh to describe here.

The book details Japanese history and its forced entry into the modern world, why they decided to expand their territory, and how their children were raised in a harsh military-like environment, having the individual beaten out to be replaced with a groupthink mentality, preparing them for the war ahead.

The book is also a lesson on knowing when to bug-out. Many decided to stay in the city, and others fled at the last minute, only to be bottlenecked with no way to cross the freezing Yangtze River.

Many have said the book is biased because the author is Chinese. Read the book, read the reviews, and read the reviews for the "rebuttal" books. I've never seen such brutal, seething reviews from those who believed it happened and those who didn't. Look at the pictures, read the accounts of the American, British, and other foreigners who were there. Make the decision yourself.

The Rape of Nanking details individual stories of survivors, reporters and soldiers from both sides who were there, and contains the terrible with the heroic. It's the worth the read, if you can stomach it.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Bud White]

Ill add it to my list of books to read

[WorldPax]

+1 on the have to take a look. I'm always up for a heartwarming feel-good tale.

[P95Carry]

I have not read the book Betty but, certainly knew quite a bit about the Jap's torture and general methods.

Used to know a dear man, he has been gone some time now but he was a Brit POW under the Japs and was able to relate some of his experiences. They were painful for him but it seemed cathartic - I never pushed him.

I got a clear enough mental picture from that to probably get close to what you may have read - and I believe it too!

[Miggy]

I read the book and it is indeed disturbing. I don't consider myself wishy washy or afraid of blood, but some sections of the book made me absolutely sick. If anything is an extensive treatise on depravity.

[rstickle]

Sounds like an interesting read. Most the the WWII era stuff I've read has been about the European Theater.

[Bud White]

i know the history channel show i watched showed some graphic stuff and pics and basically said thaty the stuff done in the pacific theater

Was worse than what Hitler did in jews it just has got around as much becuse the scale wasnt as large just higher level of Brutalty

[Betty]

If you haven't read the book, the Amazon reviews for it are quite engaging. I don't know how 100% accurate the facts are in the book - reviews went from "it's Chinese propaganda at its worst and the pictures are forged" to "the Rape is still underreported and Japan is still covering it up." People are still at each other's throats.

I want to see Memoirs of a Geisha in the theatre - I read the book and really enjoyed it. There's many Chinese and Japanese who are quite racist about it - the Japanese are complaining that all the main roles are played by Chinese, and there's plenty of Chinese who are upset because they think it's disgraceful that Chinese are playing Japanese characters. I'll bet some of those feelings stemmed from the War.

Sometimes it's embarrassing to be a human being when you see how people treat each other.

[Miggy]

There were too many serious western eyewitnesses to just simply dismiss the event as propaganda. And things like the beheading competition was published in Japanese papers and were repeated with later by the Japanese Imperial Army officers against US and Brit POW's.