The Making of the Rape of Nanking - Book Review

Today the society is civilized and has learned how to live in harmony with each other. The same cannot be said for the past decades. There were so many conflicts in the past between countries or even within countries. Each and every war or conflict had its causes ranging from boundary dispute to conflicts over natural resources. The wars resulted in the loss of many lives, both of ordinary people and that of the war soldiers. One particular example of the incidences that resulted in the loss of lives is the famously known Nanjing Massacre that took place on December 1937. In his book, “The making of “The Rape of Nanking”: History and Memory in Japan, China and the United States,” Takashi Yoshida analyzes the Nanjing Massacre. In the analysis, Yoshida discusses the controversial debate over the history of the massacre. This paper reviews this book by Takashi Yoshida. In the review, the paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the book. The paper also summarizes the chapters of the book by narrating what each chapter discusses.

The general structure

“The making of The Rape of Nanking” book is about five hundred pages long. The front cover of the book has a pictorial representation of what looks like a collection of dead bodies. The title of the book “The Rape of Nanking” attracts the attention of the readers. Takashi Yoshida divides the book into four parts. The book also has a total of twelve chapters each with a specific heading that tells the reader what the chapter narrates. In the book, Yoshida puts two additional chapters i.e. the Introduction and the Conclusion. In the introduction chapter, he narrates what the following chapters of the book will illustrate. In the conclusion chapter, he makes a remark that long controversial debate has brought with it both positive and negative effects on the history discipline. The book’s thesis is to examine how the Nanjing Massacre has changed in history writing and the people’s