The making of the "Rape of Nanking"

About This Book

"Drawing on a rich analysis of Chinese, Japanese, and American history textbooks and newspapers, Takashi Yoshida traces the evolving, and often conflicting, understandings of the Nanjing Massacre, revealing how changing social and political environments have influenced the debate. Yoshida suggests that, from the 1970s on, the dispute over Nanjing has become more lively, more globalized, and immeasurably more intense, due in part to Japanese revisionist history and a renewed emphasis on patriotic education in China. While today it is easy to assume that the Nanjing Massacre has always been viewed as an emblem of Japan's wartime aggression in China, the image of the "Rape of Nanjing" is a much more recent icon in public consciousness. Takashi Toshida analyzes the process by which the Nanjing Massacre has become an international symbol and provides a fair and respectful treatment of the politically charged and controversial debate over its history."--Jacket.