Why a Booktrail?
1937, 1990: Does a piece of film taken during the infamous Nanking massacre of 1937 really exist?
The Devil of Nanking
What you need to know before your trail
Grey Hutchins is in pursuit of an obsession. She is searching for a piece of film taken during the infamous Nanking massacre of 1937. Some say it never existed. Grey is certain that it does, and that it lies hidden – somewhere in Tokyo.
Alone in an alien city, Grey becomes a hostess in an exclusive club catering for Japanese businessmen – and gangsters. One gangster dominates – an old man in a wheelchair surrounded by a terrifying entourage – who is rumoured to rely on a powerful elixir for his continued health. It is an elixir that others want – at any price …
Locations
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Nanjing
In Chinese, “Nan” means south, and “jing” means capital, so Nanjing means southern capital. “Nanking” is a variant of Nanjing. Therefore, Bei means north, so Beijing means northern capital.
Nanjing massacre
The conflict which would become known as Second Sino-Japanese War started on July 7, 1937 at the Marco Polo Bridge which escalated rapidly into a full-scale war in northern China between the armies of China and Japan
Nanking 1937
“We went through the early morning streets, keeping a vigilant eye on all barricaded doors. Nanking, I thought, you are a ghost town. Where are your citizens? Cowering in silence, tucked away inside the shuttered houses?”
“Shanghai fell last week…”
“News comes that the Imperial Japanese Army is fanning out across the delta and how it seems that an assault on Nanking in inevitable….certain that if they can only take Nanking, our nation’s great capital, they will have the giant’s heart in their fists”
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Devil of Nanking
Destination: Nanking, Tokyo Author/Guide: Mo Hayder Departure Time: 1937 and 1990
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