Before I read this book, I didn't really know much about the incidents described in graphic detail in the book. To say this book was a shocking eye-opener would be an understatement. Well-written and necessarily explicit, it is a sad reminder that human nature at base is animalistic and cruel. Over 300,000 Chinese civilians and soldiers were systematically raped, tortued and murdered by the invading Japanese armies in 1937. This is the definitive expose of this horrifying episode ~ for which Japan has never apologised or made reparations. (Not for the faint-hearted).