Chang, Iris. Thread of the Silkworm. New York, NY: Basic Books, 1995. Print
Silkworm examines the life of Chinese scientist Tsien Hsue-shen. Like many other Chinese men, Hsue-shen travelled to America in pursuit of a better life in the 1930s where he earned his Ph.D. During his time in America he made many advances in rocket sciences that would have aided America had he not been deported. In the 1950s Hsue-shen was accused of being a Communist during the period of the Red Scare and was sent back to China indefinitely. With all his research and studies he was able to lead China in creating the “Chinese missile” and gave way to advances in the country’s space technology. The United States error of judgment became one of China’s greatest achievements.
Chang, Iris. The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II. New York, NY: Penguin Books, 1997. Print
Chang, Iris. The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II. New York, NY: Penguin Books, 1997. Print
The Rape of Nanking observes the massacre at Nanjing of China during the years of World War II by the Japanese imperial army. In the book, Chang discusses the events leading up to the massacre as well as the war as whole. She also makes claims of how Modern Japan still hasn’t successfully compensated China for the losses in the war. Before the publication of this book much of the western world was unaware of the events of the massacre but Chang presents statistical facts about the event. Not only did Chang use solid facts but eyewitness accounts of the carnage and the destruction caused by the Japanese. The images she paints of women taken as sex slaves, many others cruelly raped and far more maliciously murdered showcased the real horrors of the incident.
Chang, Iris. The Chinese in America. New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2003. Print
Chang, Iris. The Chinese in America. New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2003. Print
Chinese in America, Irish Chang’s final book before her untimely death, highlights the history of the Chinese that emigrated from China to the United States. The book is divided into three areas of history in which masses of Chinese people came to America. The first displays that of Chinese laborers coming overseas to prosper in the gold rush and work on the transcontinental railroad. The second exhibits the mass population Chinese coming from China to evade the Communist uprising in their country. And the third illustrates America’s acceptance of Chinese immigrants as it opened up in the late 20th century. Within all these era’s in American history Chang discusses how the Chinese were discriminated and used though still thriving within American culture and how today many are proud business owners and creating their own identity within the American psyche.
