Listen free for 30 days

  • The Rape of Nanking

  • Written by: Iris Chang
  • Narrated by: Anna Fields
  • Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (312 ratings)

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
The Rape of Nanking cover art

The Rape of Nanking

Written by: Iris Chang
Narrated by: Anna Fields
Try for $0.00

$14.95 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $31.27

Buy Now for $31.27

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.

Publisher's Summary

In December 1937, in the capital of China, one of the most brutal massacres in the long annals of wartime barbarity occurred. The Japanese army swept into the ancient city of Nanking and within weeks not only looted and burned the defenseless city but systematically raped, tortured and murdered more than 300,000 Chinese civilians. Amazingly, the story of this atrocity- one of the worst in world history- continues to be denied by the Japanese government.  

The Rape of Nanking tells the story from three perspectives: that of the Japanese soldiers who performed it; of the Chinese civilians who endured it; and finally of a group of Europeans and Americans who refused to abandon the city and were able to create a safety zone that saved almost 300,000 Chinese. It was Iris Chang who discovered the diaries of the German leader of this rescue effort, John Rabe, whom she calls the "Oskar Schindler of China." A loyal supporter of Adolf Hitler, but far from the terror planned in his Nazi-controlled homeland, he worked tirelessly to save the innocent from slaughter.

©1997 by Iris Chang (P)1997 by Blackstone Audiobooks
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

What listeners say about The Rape of Nanking

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    260
  • 4 Stars
    41
  • 3 Stars
    10
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    205
  • 4 Stars
    45
  • 3 Stars
    10
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    224
  • 4 Stars
    30
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Eye opening

This content in this book will be shocking and hard to digest for some. It takes the reader through not only the brutal reality of war crimes, but into the minds of perpetrators and victims. The writer details the later denial of the events not only by Japan, but the rest of the world, even China itself. Well done!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • A
  • 2024-02-26

harsh but necessary

this is an unflinching account of the Japanese terror on the Chinese at the start of the second world war. for too long the war has been looked at as a 1939 to 1945 European domain and important incidents like this have been publicly forgotten. overall def required history to understand not what the Japanese were capable of, but what humans will readily do if they are given the reason and circumstances.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A moment to bare witness to

Chilling and horrible part of our human history.
Deeply upsetting, told clinically without (the insult of) any dramatizations or sensationalizing.

Always an important story and message but especially right now as we the world seem to again be watching and doing nothing to stop a new genocide being committed.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Must read for every person

An amazing account in the atrocities human beings are capable of. Important lessons for all of humankind so we may never repeat the horrors committed by the Imperial Japanese.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Hard to call this a "good" book but...

...It's a very important one. It was shocking and horrible. I think it's an important book to read. Very well-written, well-researched, and well-narrated. 10/10.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Gutwrenching

DanCarlin Recommend this in his HardcoreHistory: Supernova In The East reading list.

The gutwrenching account told Is a must read for those who desire a deeper knowledge on not just Nanjing but the cultural ethos that enveloped Japan in the early (and to the late) 20th century

A special not to the performance as it was easy to follow, her pacing was perfect, along with inflection and emphasis in certain passages makes it seem as the listener is being "talked to" as opposed to "Talked At".

The content of this book is definitely difficult to to stomach and would caution listeners to be wary as some topics discussed are extremely explicit.

10/10

Will read/listen again.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Important read about an unpleasant subject

A comprehensive book about the nanking massacre including japan’s imperial army culture, the inept management of the Chinese army, the courage of the foreigners, and the international response to the situation.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • mat
  • 2023-03-09

Eye opening book on the horrors of the past

This book will leave you speachless. I highly suggest listening to this audio book, to help you learn the horrors of history.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Shook me for days after..

It's a hard and disturbing listen, especially if you haven't heard about the Masacre of Nanking before. The reality of what really happened is throughly taught and I listened to all of it in 3 days.. It's fascinating and horrifying. I can't say I loved the story, but it's beautifully written and well read..

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Horrifyingly captivating

Prior to listening to The Rape of Nanking, I had only heard of the atrocities one time. This book sheds lights on the horrors that truly occurred.

The author goes into great detail not only about the atrocities that happened in Nanking, but the lives of those involved in committing the acts and those important life saving foreigners who saved thousands of Chinese lives.



Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!