In December 1937, the Japanese army swept into the ancient city of Nanking. Within weeks, more than 300,000 Chinese civilians were systematically raped, tortured, and murdered--a death toll exceeding that of the atomic blasts of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. Using extensive interviews with survivors and newly discovered documents, Iris Chang has written what will surely be the definitive history of this horrifying episode. The Rape of Nanking tells the story from three perspectives: of the Japanese soldiers who performed it, of the Chinese civilians who endured it, and of a group of Europeans and Americans who refused to abandon the city and were able to create a safety zone that saved almost 300,000 Chinese. Among these was the Nazi John Rabe, an unlikely hero whom Chang calls the "Oskar Schindler of China" and who worked tirelessly to protect the innocent and publicize the horror. More than just narrating the details of an orgy of violence, The Rape of Nanking analyzes the militaristic culture that fostered in the Japanese soldiers a total disregard for human life. Finally, it tells the appalling story: about how the advent of the Cold War led to a concerted effort on the part of the West and even the Chinese to stifle open discussion of this atrocity. Indeed, Chang characterizes this conspiracy of silence, that persists to this day, as "a second rape."

張純如（Iris Chang），1989年畢業於伊利諾伊大學厄巴納•香檳分校，獲新聞學學士學位。畢業後在芝加哥度過瞭短暫的記者生涯，之後在約翰•霍普金斯大學獲寫作碩士學位。作為美國著名的年輕曆史學傢之一，張純如曾獲得眾多榮譽，包括麥剋阿瑟基金會和平與國際閤作項目奬、華裔美國人組織年度女性奬、伍斯特學院名譽博士、加州州立大學東灣分校名譽博士等。1991年，張純如與布雷特•道格拉斯（Brett Douglas）結婚，並育有一子。

她的作品刊登在《新聞周刊》、《紐約時報》、《洛杉磯時報》等多傢齣版物上，此外，她還接受眾多電視和廣播節目的采訪，並發錶過眾多演講。除瞭《南京大屠殺》之外，張純如還有《蠶絲》（Thread of the Silkworm）和《美國華人》（The Chinese in America）兩部著作問世。

2004年11月9日，張純如在美國加利福尼亞州自己的轎車內開槍自殺。