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As a girl in Champaign, Illinois, Iris Chang grew up hearing how her grandparents had escaped the Nanjing Massacre. When she looked for a book about it in the public library, there was none. Years later she wrote it herself. The Rape of Nanking spent ten weeks on The New York Times bestseller list and made her one of America's best-known young historians. She wrote three books in all, each built from the lives of people caught between China and the United States, before her death in 2004 at the age of 36. This guide covers all three in order, where to start, and the books and films about her.
By Lisanne Swart · 3 books · Female authors · 1995–2003 · Updated September 2026
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Quick answer
Iris Chang wrote three books: Thread of the Silkworm (1995), a biography of the rocket scientist Tsien Hsue-shen; The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II (1997), her best-known book; and The Chinese in America: A Narrative History (2003). She was researching a fourth, about the Bataan Death March, when she died in 2004. The Rape of Nanking is the place to start.
Listen: Iris Chang on The Chinese in America
On NPR's Talk of the Nation in May 2003, Chang talks with host Neal Conan about 150 years of the Chinese experience in America. For video, C-SPAN has her 2003 talk on the same book.Quick facts about Iris Chang
- Born
- March 28, 1968, Princeton, New Jersey
- Died
- November 9, 2004, Santa Clara County, California, aged 36
- Grew up
- Champaign–Urbana, Illinois, where her father taught at the University of Illinois
- Education
- University of Illinois (BA in journalism, 1989); Johns Hopkins University (MA, Writing Seminars)
- Journalism
- New York Times stringer while at college; the Associated Press and the Chicago Tribune
- Books
- 3, from Thread of the Silkworm (1995) to The Chinese in America (2003)
- Best known for
- The Rape of Nanking (1997), ten weeks on The New York Times bestseller list
- Unfinished
- A fourth book, on the Bataan Death March
- Remembered
- Iris Chang Memorial Hall, Huai'an (2017); Iris Chang Park, San Jose (2019)
All 3 Iris Chang Books, in Order
Thread of the Silkworm
The life of Tsien Hsue-shen (Qian Xuesen), a Chinese-born scientist who was one of the founders of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and for years helped the United States military debrief scientists from Nazi Germany. During the Red Scare he was suddenly accused of being a spy and a member of the Communist Party, and held under house arrest from 1950 to 1955. In September 1955 he left for the People's Republic of China, where he developed the Dongfeng missile programme and later the Silkworm missile.
Read it second. It is the quietest of her books, and the clearest view of what she cared about: one life caught between the United States and China.
— LisanneThe Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II
An account of the atrocities the Imperial Japanese Army committed in Nanjing, then China's capital, after the city fell in December 1937: mass killings of soldiers and civilians, and the mass rape of women. Chang published it on the sixtieth anniversary of the massacre, which her own grandparents had escaped. It includes interviews with survivors, and her research is credited with bringing to light the diaries of the German businessman John Rabe and the American missionary Minnie Vautrin, who both witnessed it. It spent ten weeks on The New York Times bestseller list and was the first complete narrative of the massacre in English. Historians also criticised parts of it, including her analysis of Japanese culture and her calculations of how many people were killed and raped.
Start here, but know what you are starting: it describes killing and sexual violence in detail. Read it slowly, and take breaks.
— LisanneThe Chinese in America: A Narrative History
A history of Chinese Americans across more than 150 years: building the country's infrastructure, fighting exclusionary laws and anti-Asian violence, and contributing to science, technology and literature. Like her earlier books it leans on personal stories, and it argues that Chinese Americans have long been treated as perpetual outsiders. Some reviewers found it uneven in places. It was her last book; when she died she was researching a fourth, about the Bataan Death March.
The gentlest way into her work, and the most hopeful. Read it if you want to know her before facing Nanking.
— LisanneBooks and Films About Iris Chang
She did not live to write a memoir. These are the books and films that tell her story, and two works of fiction dedicated to her.
- Finding Iris Chang (2007) — a biography by her friend, the writer Paula Kamen.
- The Woman Who Could Not Forget (2011) — her mother Ying-Ying Chang's account of her life, with an introduction by Richard Rhodes.
- Iris Chang: The Rape of Nanking (2007) — a documentary film, with Olivia Cheng as Chang.
- Nanking (2007) — a documentary based on her work and dedicated to her memory.
- Dedicated to her — R. F. Kuang's novel The Poppy War, and Ken Liu's story “The Man Who Ended History”.
Where to Start with Iris Chang
If you read only one
→ The Rape of Nanking (1997). It contains detailed accounts of killing and sexual violence.
If you want a gentler way in
→ The Chinese in America (2003).
If you like science and Cold War history
→ Thread of the Silkworm (1995).
If you want to know her
→ The Woman Who Could Not Forget (2011), or Finding Iris Chang (2007).
If you want more true stories
→ My list of the best memoirs and biographies.
In What Order to Read Iris Chang
Her books are not connected, so publication order is only one option. If you want to follow how her work grew, read them as she wrote them. If you want to understand why she mattered, start with Nanking.
In publication order
1. Thread of the Silkworm (1995)
2. The Rape of Nanking (1997)
3. The Chinese in America (2003)
How Iris Chang Wrote: History One Life at a Time
Chang trained as a journalist, not a historian. While still a student she wrote front-page stories as a stringer for The New York Times, and all three of her books are built the way a reporter builds a story: around individual people. A single scientist carries Thread of the Silkworm. Survivors and eyewitnesses carry The Rape of Nanking. Personal accounts carry The Chinese in America.
That approach is also why historians argued with her. The Rape of Nanking reached a wide readership, and historians criticised parts of her analysis, among them her portrayal of Japanese culture and her casualty figures. She did not retreat from public argument: in 1998, on PBS's NewsHour, she challenged the Japanese ambassador to the United States over the vagueness of his government's apology.
The work cost her. She later described images from her research coming back to her without warning, while shopping or walking in a park, and said she had not wanted those events to poison the rest of her life.
Frequently asked questions about Iris Chang's books
How many books did Iris Chang write?
Iris Chang wrote three books: Thread of the Silkworm (1995), The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II (1997) and The Chinese in America: A Narrative History (2003).
What are Iris Chang's books in order?
In order of publication: Thread of the Silkworm (1995), The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II (1997), The Chinese in America: A Narrative History (2003).
What is Iris Chang's most famous book?
The Rape of Nanking (1997), her account of the atrocities committed by the Imperial Japanese Army in Nanjing in 1937. It spent ten weeks on The New York Times bestseller list.
Which Iris Chang book should I read first?
The Rape of Nanking, her most important book, although it contains detailed accounts of killing and sexual violence. For a gentler introduction, start with The Chinese in America.
What is Thread of the Silkworm about?
Thread of the Silkworm (1995) is a biography of Tsien Hsue-shen, one of the founders of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who was accused of being a Communist during the Red Scare, held under house arrest from 1950 to 1955, and left for China, where he developed its missile programme.
Was The Rape of Nanking criticised?
Yes. The book was the first complete narrative of the Nanjing Massacre in English and brought it to a wide readership, but historians criticised parts of it, including her analysis of the motivations behind the massacre, her portrayal of Japanese culture, and her calculations of the number of people killed and raped.
What was Iris Chang working on when she died?
She was several months into research for a fourth book, about the Bataan Death March and the American soldiers who fought the Japanese in the Philippines during the Second World War.
How did Iris Chang die?
Iris Chang died by suicide on November 9, 2004, at the age of 36. Earlier that year she had been hospitalised after a breakdown while researching her fourth book, and she continued to struggle with depression afterwards. If this subject affects you, support is available: in the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, call Samaritans on 116 123; in the Netherlands, call 113 or 0800-0113.
Is there a biography of Iris Chang?
Yes. Finding Iris Chang (2007) is a biography by her friend Paula Kamen, and The Woman Who Could Not Forget (2011) is an account of her life by her mother, Ying-Ying Chang.
Who was Iris Chang?
Iris Chang (1968–2004) was an American journalist and historian, born in Princeton, New Jersey, to Chinese parents who had come to the United States from Taiwan. She is best known for The Rape of Nanking (1997).
Footnotes
- Iris Chang — Wikipedia
- The Rape of Nanking (book) — Wikipedia
- The Chinese in America — Wikipedia
- About Iris Chang — irischang.net
- Chang, Iris 1968–2004 — Encyclopedia.com
- Iris Chang and the Forgotten Holocaust — PBS NewsHour
- Iris Chang — NPR, Talk of the Nation
- The Chinese in America: A Narrative History — C-SPAN
- Inventory of the Iris Chang papers — Hoover Institution Archives
Bibliography last verified 10 September 2026.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all hers.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“The America of today would not be the same America without the achievements of its ethnic Chinese.”
— Iris Chang, The Chinese in America (2003)
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