Editing The Rape of Nanking (book) (section)

=== Acclaim ===
''The Rape of Nanking'' sold more than half a million copies when it was first published in the US, and according to ''[[The New York Times]]'', received general critical acclaim.<ref name="NewYorkTimes">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/20/books/history-s-shadow-foils-nanking-chronicle.html|date=1999-05-20|access-date=2007-07-21|title=History's Shadow Foils Nanking Chronicle|newspaper=The New York Times|last1=Carvajal|first1=Doreen}}</ref> The book remained on the [[New York Times Best Seller list|''New York Times''' Best Seller list]] for 10 weeks and sold more than 125,000 copies in four months.<ref name="SFGate1998" /> Several leading historians said they believe that Chang’s revelation of Japanese wartime crimes and the country’s postwar attempts to cover up and distort history will help raise public awareness of the incident.<ref name=once>{{cite news |url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-jun-06-mn-44838-story.html| title=War Again Is Raging Over Japan's Role in 'Nanking' | author=Sonni Efron | newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] | date=June 6, 1999 }}</ref> 

Iris Chang became an instant celebrity in the US:<ref name="TimesOnline">{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/article429065.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070317020756/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/article429065.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 17, 2007|title=One final victim of the Rape of Nanking?|newspaper=Times Online|date=2005-03-17|access-date=2007-07-21 | location=London | first=Oliver | last=August}}</ref> she was awarded honorary degrees;<ref name="SFGate2004-11-11">{{cite news|url=http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/11/11/MNGB59PKL01.DTL|title=Chinese American writer found dead in South Bay|publisher=SFGate|date=2004-11-11|access-date=2007-07-21|first=Charles|last=Burress|archive-date=2007-11-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071113021858/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2004%2F11%2F11%2FMNGB59PKL01.DTL|url-status=dead}}</ref> invited to give lectures and to discuss the Nanjing Massacre on shows such as ''[[Good Morning America]]'', ''[[Nightline]]'', and ''[[The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer]]''; profiled by ''The New York Times''; and was featured on the cover of ''[[Reader's Digest]]''.<ref name="Penguin" /> Moreover, [[Hillary Clinton]] invited her to the [[White House]]; U.S. historian [[Stephen Ambrose]] described her as "maybe the best young historian we've got;"<ref name="TimesOnline" /> and the [[Organization of Chinese Americans]] named her National Woman of the Year.<ref name="SFGate2004-11-11" /> The book's popularity prompted a lengthy book tour, with Chang visiting 65 cities in over a year and a half.<ref name="SFGate2005-04-17" />

The book also received praise from news media. ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' wrote that it was the "first comprehensive examination of the destruction of this Chinese imperial city," and that Chang "skillfully excavated from oblivion the terrible events that took place." ''[[The Atlantic Monthly]]'' described the book as "a crushing indictment of the Japanese army's behavior." The ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' called it "a powerful new work of history and moral inquiry" and stated that "Chang takes great care to establish an accurate accounting of the dimensions of the violence." ''[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]'' wrote that it was a "compelling account of a horrendous episode that, until recently, has been largely forgotten."<ref name="MediaPraise">{{cite web |url = http://www.irischang.net/press_article.cfm?n=14 |title = Media Praise For The Rape of Nanking |website = IrisChang.net |access-date=2007-07-21 }}</ref>

According to William C. Kirby, Professor of History at Harvard University, Chang "shows more clearly than any previous account just what [the Japanese] did," and that she "draws connections between the slaughter in Europe and in Asia of millions of innocents during World War II."<ref name="KirbyForward" /> [[Ross Terrill]], an associate in research at the [[Fairbank Center for East Asian Research]] at Harvard,<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.perseusbooksgroup.com/basic/author_detail.jsp?id=1000016300 |title = Ross Terrill |publisher = Basic Books |access-date = 2007-07-21 |archive-date = 2007-09-27 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927002132/http://www.perseusbooksgroup.com/basic/author_detail.jsp?id=1000016300 |url-status = dead }}</ref> wrote that the book is "scholarly, an exciting investigation and a work of passion."<ref name="Quotes">Quotes on the Jacket and Interior of - {{cite book |author = Iris Chang |title = The Rape of Nanking |publisher=Penguin Books |year=1998 |isbn=0-465-06835-9 |url = https://archive.org/details/rapeofnankingfor00chan }}</ref> Beatrice S. Bartlett, [[Emeritus Professor]] of History at [[Yale University]],<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.yale.edu/history/faculty/bartlett.html |title = Beatrice S. Bartlett |publisher=Yale University |access-date=2007-07-21 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060920012335/http://www.yale.edu/history/faculty/bartlett.html |archive-date = September 20, 2006 }}</ref> wrote, "Iris Chang's research on the Nanking holocaust yields a new and expanded telling of this World War II atrocity and reflects thorough research."<ref name="Quotes" /> [[Frederic Wakeman]], director of the Institute of East Asian Studies at the [[University of California, Berkeley]], wrote that the book was "Heartbreaking ... An utterly compelling book. The descriptions of the atrocities raise fundamental questions not only about imperial Japanese militarism but the psychology of the torturers, rapists, and murderers."<ref name="Quotes"/>