The River of Lost Footsteps: Histories of Burma

Although this was a difficult book, I would have to say that Thant Myint-U's book is very interesting. Most people don't know much about the country of Burma, and this book supplies the reader with a deep grasp of why Burma is in the place that it is today. It starts at the first king of Burma all the way to modern day.

There is a very interesting chapter on the Karen, a nominally Christian group who have been attacked by the government for years. It is interesting to see why they are despised and hunted down by the Burmese government and why they are fleeing into Thailand refugee camps for safety.

Great book,
Aung San Suu Kyi

The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang

The Rape of Nanking was quite depressing, but still rather enlightening. All throughout school, students in America learn about the horrors of the Holocaust and WW II, but until reading this book, I didn't know that a second massacre occurred in China by the Japanese.

The Rape of Nanking talks about this event-- the massacre of over 300,000 Chinese during the course of 6-7 weeks. Chang discusses how the Japanese could have rationalized all the murder and rape to themselves, and why there is such little publicity about Nanking. It goes into detail about before, during, and afterwards, from both the sides of the Japanese, Chinese, and foreign people who stayed during the Rape.

Although I thought the book was well written and intriguing, I still felt that it could have been almost half the size. Chang repeats herself many times, and although it does stress the importance of what she's saying (usually the more horrific facts are repeated), it does get repetitive. Still, I recommend the book to anyone who wants to learn more about a little known subject, but be aware that it does get depressing and gruesome.

-La Reina Sofia