Rating: 
Summary: Negligence of criticism
Review: A reader from Woodside, NY USA wrote:
> Notice, most of the reviews that gave one star were Japanese.
All the reviewers who gave one star to Robert Stinnett's "Day Of Deceit: The Truth About FDR and Pearl Harbor" were American. What is the reason? Probably it is no related to whether "Day of Deceit" is a great book or not.
It looks like most of the reviewers who have rated "The Rape of Nanking" at 4 or 5 stars have accepted the articles in this book just as Chang has described with no doubt. It would have been emotional and moving for them to read such a tragic story, then they can not be receptive to the idea that the sources which the author quoted might be incorrect, biased or distorted. The freedom of journalism is a double-sided sword. We must be a critical reader always for the journalism.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Book!
Review: Notice, most of the reviews that gave one star were Japanese.
The reviewer, kent gives numerous reviews with one star, in order to lower the rating of this book.
I think this was a very thoroughly researched and informative book.
My main gripe with this book is a comlete lack of acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide. It cites the German Holocaust and Stalin's to his own people. The Armenian Genocide and the Rape of Nanking have some similarities. The Turkish and the Japanese don't acknowledge what happened and changed their histories to put a better light on themselves.
Rating:
Summary: Need Verification
Review: Iris Chang's "The Rape of Nanking" is claiming Japanese troops massacred 300,000 civillians in Nanking.
Most historians' account is around 40,000 Chinese soldiers died in this battle.
According to the Documents of the Nanking Safety Zone by the International Committee for the Nanking Safety Zone, there were 49 claims for casualities of civillians.
Why don't you wonder if it is possible to kill 300,000 people in 6 weeks by only a pistol and a sword?
Rating:
Summary: Straight up, good history
Review: I was suprised to see the number of reviewers who slighted the history of this book--once again, many people would rather ignore real history and take a glamorized fairy tale view instead. Chang has done a marvelous job in bringing the atrocities of the Sino-Japanese war to light. As hard as this book is to read, it is good history which does not try to erase the ugly past of our world, but challenges us to become better. Until the people of the world begin to face up to atrocities of the past, we will not be able to move forward and create a lasting peace. I applaud Ms. Chang for doing her part to put accuracy first, no matter how ugly the truth is.
Rating:
Summary: Japanese history textbooks are written by China.
Review: On the earth, only Americans are believing the Atmic Bomb attacks to Hiroshima and Nagasaki have saved millions people's life. The truth is they were done only for the demonstration to the Congress and the Soviet. The last chapter in WW2 might start like this if a Japanese writes the American history textbook. I would not miss that Japanese POWs suffered several kinds of cruelty by American soldiers.Actually, this will never happen in America but happened in the case of Japan. After WW2, China has been interfering with Japan's domestic affairs. As for "Nanking Masscre", it was forged by Chiang Kai-Shek's Kuomintang (KMT) and supported in the Tokyo Trials with no evidences other than the testimonies of few eyewitnesses. Japan's cross-examinations were rejected (therefore, America might be an accomplice of this forgery). Chinese Communist Party has succeeded in putting this forged holocaust on history textbooks for Japanese students. In Japan, anyone can write and publish textbooks if they pass the Japanese government's examination and, as you can imagine, Japanese government can not deny "Nanking Masscre" since it was "confirmed" in the Tokyo Trials though it was victors' unilateral judgement. After the Tokyo Trials, Americans have "forgotten" that they supported China's conspiracy. Iris Chang's "The Rape of Nanking" is supposed to be the 2nd stage of spreading the propaganda in America.
Rating:
Summary: on te2001's review
Review: te2001 wrote:
>>.....In short, I believe every native or foreign-born Chinese should read this book not to hate but to understand the working dynamics of Chinese and Japanese. I am another one who was overwhelmed by this book's in-depth coverage of the events. And I agree with you, among others, that we should read this book "not to hate". However, you went on to make a critical assertion on the current state of Japanese education, which is mostly inaccurate. >>....Did you know that the standard Japanese textbooks (until recently and perhaps still is the case) still did not recognize the Japanese invasion of Asia in WW2? The fact is:
"....Today all Japanese school textbooks mention the Massacre. Of seven junior high school textbooks that have been used since spring 1997, every one mentions the Massacre. In six out of the seven textbooks, the estimate of Chinese who were killed is at least 200,000; four of them also introduce the Chinese official figure of 300,000. Only the textbook by Teikokushoin, whose share is 2% of the total market, does not mention any numbers, although it says that "the Japanese killed very many Chinese including women and children...." (excerpt from "A Japanese Historiography of the Nanjing Massacre" by Takeshi Yoshida, Columbia University) Also see the full article here: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ccba/cear/issues/fall99/text-only/yoshida.htm This is only about the Massacre. Of course, the Japanese invasion of Asian countries, which you assert is not recognized in the classrooms in Japan, is always described in detail by all history textbooks there, and has been taught to tens of millions of kids, ever since the democracy was reinstalled in the country after WWII. Hence the deep undercurrent of anti-war sentiment held by grass-roots Japanese, along with the ultra-pacifist constitution maintained to date despite all the debates. Regarding the Massacre, I remember my textbooks in the 1980s dedicated many pages to describe the Massacre. I fully agree with you that what's more unfortunate than the Massacre itself is distortion of the history. By the same token, distorting the post-war state of Japanese education, and an ignorance of their struggles for truths during the past 50 years including Ienaga textbook court cases, would lead only to hatred. And hatred never creates positive impact on mankind. My apologies for being blunt at times, if I sound so. But I felt compelled to point this out because your misconception seems to be commonly held by many, perhaps influenced by sensation journalism which reports on a relatively small group of right-wingers as if they represent the entire nation, but not on the silent majority's views.
Rating:
Summary: Another example questioning the accuracy of journalism.
Review: Former prisoner of war Jessica Lynch said that she believes the U.S. military overdramatized the story of her rescue in Iraq. Some news accounts of her capture said she had fired at Iraqis until running out of ammunition and had suffered bullet and knife wounds. In fact, her injuries were the result of the Humvee crash. During the confrontation with Iraqi forces, her rifle jammed and she did not fire a single round. Rick Bragg's book cites a medical report that shows Lynch was raped. Later, Bragg insisted that he was following newspaper policy and did nothing wrong. Dr. Mahdi Khafazji who performed surgery on Lynch told the AP he found no signs that she was raped or sodomized. -- Be careful.
Rating: 
Summary: Supplement to a previous review
Review: As many reviewers have cited there were foreign journalists who were in Nanjing at the time of Japanese occupation. Here is the heading to a NY Times article published from one of those journalists:
The New York Times: December 18, 1937 Butchery Marked Capture of Nanking All CAPTIVES SLAIN Civilians Also Killed as the Japanese Spread Terror in Nanking U. S. EMBASSY IS RAIDED Capital's Fall Laid to Poor Tactics of Chiang Kai-shek and Leaders' Fight By F. Tillman Durdin There are plenty of more examples
Rating:
Summary: China is raising up the number of the war dead.
Review: Why America's largest trading partners are not its close neighbors, Canada, Mexico or Cuba? Because they hate Americans? I do not think so. Did you know the first account of the war dead in the battle of Nanking by Chiang Kai-Shek's Chinese National Party after WW2 was 40,000? At the Tokyo Trial, the number was suddenly raised up to 200,000. After Mao Tse-tung turned Chiang Kai-sek out to Taiwan, it was raised up again to 300,000. Also the number of eyewitnesses has been increasing. Unbelievable!
Rating: 
Summary: A greater tragedy than the massacre is distortion
Review: I read this book when it was first published, and I was very intrigued by the evidence provided in the book. Along the way, I learned much more of Naking Massacre's history from my parents, friends, and other historians. In short, I believe every native or foreign-born Chinese should read this book not to hate but to understand the working dynamics of Chinese and Japanese. For many of those that are familiar with the regional hatred: why so many Chinese, Koreans, Philippinos, etc. simply hate Japanese. It is not only because of massacres such as this (which I can assure you there were many well-documented Japanese atrocities inflicted on other groups of people in Asia), but it is because there are powerful groups in Japan that simply refuse to acknowledge and consequently to apologize for the past crime. Did you know that the standard Japanese textbooks (until recently and perhaps still is the case) still did not recognize the Japanese invasion of Asia in WW2? Furthermore, it is readers like "eligarf" who are brained washed by Japanese schools' teachings. It is sad, therefore, that these innocent Japanese growing up neglectful of the truth and yet wonders why all the neighbors hate them. Why is it such a big deal when Koizumi visited the Yasukuni Shrine? Why the mere mention of Naking massacre to some Chinese bring forth raw emotions that is at least on parallel with 9/11. Why Japan's largest trading partners are not its close neighbors, but western nations such as the US. With ignorance such as this, the current and future generations of Japanese are at a huge disadvantage, on the regional age, in school, in business, and in life. That is the real tragedy. Truth does not always set one free, but it at least brings one on to the path of reconciliation.
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