In telling the story of the Rape of Nanking, the author begins with the Japanese perspective. Following the fall of Shanghai on November 26, 1937, three columns of Imperial Japanese Army soldiers march toward Nanking, burning and pillaging every village in their path. One of these divisions is led by General Matsui Iwane, a frail and tubercular Buddhist and the commander-in-chief of military operations in the Shanghai-Nanking region. As the Japanese near Nanking, Matsui suffers a severe bout of chronic tuberculosis that waylays him for the coming battle and the early stages of the massacre. Japanese Emperor Hirohito chooses his own uncle, Asaka Yasuhiko, to replace Matsui. With the city effectively enveloped, a message is sent from Asaka’s headquarters that reads, “KILL ALL CAPTIVES” (40).

Despite outnumbering the Japanese almost two-to-one, the Chinese army fails to prevent the enemy from smashing through the city’s gates. With the city lost, the Chinese surrender, trusting Japan’s assurances that they will be clothed and fed as prisoners. Instead, the Japanese proceed to disarm and bind every soldier they can find, of which there are almost 90,000 still in Nanking. Next, the Japanese separate the men into groups of 100 to 200 and execute them with machine gun fire.