Book Description
Written for the non-native Filipino (Tagalog) reader who wants to learn the language to communicate with Filipino family and friends. Emphasis on conversation. First fifteen lessons provide a tutorial introduction to the language; last fifteen lessons engage reader in complete conversations. Tutorial has two concurrent threads: 1) structure of the language and 2) vocabulary for and conversations about events in a typical work or school day. Regular use of accompanying CD a must for success. At end of book, student can expect to have vocabulary of 250 top Filipino words and speak at intermediate level. Book made lively by more than 100 line drawings, comic strips and photographs.
Customer Reviews:
great method.......2007-10-17
great method to learn tagalog. you learn really what's useful to interact with filipino. really pleasant book and CDs to use.
Excited to get finished.......2007-10-03
I purchased this book and audio set a few months ago. I was soo excited to get it. So far I am half way through. Its very helpful to have someone who speaks to Tagalog to help you along the way.
Only complaint is: on the audio the speaker says the sentences too fast and you don't get enough time to repeat it out loud. It helped that I loaded the audio cd in my iPod. So I can pause whenever I need to and easily go back.
Overall, I am very happy with this purchase!!!
A very good Filipino language book.......2007-03-20
I think this book is probably the best Filipino language book I've come across. I'm a native Filipino speaker and bought this for somebody else, who I'm helping to learn the language. I've seen so many other Filipino books, but they were almost always not so comprehensive and not well-structured. This book, however, is easy to follow and understand. There are tiny mistakes though (usually, typographical errors)... that could easily be rectified by somebody acting as a tutor. The author(s) also cleverly incorporated the older style of writing in Filipino -- with the accented words, which is very useful for a first-time learner to get a grip on the pronunciation, without constantly being supervised. DON'T LOOK FOR OTHER BOOKS, BUY THIS ONE!
EXCELLENT LEARNING TOOL.......2007-01-09
Pros - This book is an excellent learning tool, it will have you understanding from the first chapter.
Cons - Some of the chapters do vault ahead quickly, introducing new material quite fast.
Overall, I am very satisfied.
if I only had more time!.......2007-01-04
For a language program, this one is pretty good. I am more of a hands-on person, so I like sitting down with the book in hand and listening to the audio. Unlike other programs, this one explains grammar more thoroughly and uses native speakers. I hope they come out with a second program soon!
Book Description
First published in 1946, this autobiography of the well-known Filipino poet describes his boyhood in the Philippines, his voyage to America, and his years of hardship and despair as an itinerant laborer following the harvest trail in the rural West. Bulosan does not spare the reader any of the horrors that accompanied the migrant's life; but his quiet, stoic voice is the most convincing witness to those terrible events.
Customer Reviews:
A beautifully-told tale of tragedy...........2007-06-10
I first read AMERICA IS IN THE HEART as a young teenager in high school. Writer Carlos Bulosan goes the semi-autobiographical route to re-examine some of the most painful memories of his life, starting as a youth in the Philippines up to his last days on the West Coast of the United States. Carlos Bulosan, born on November 24, 1913 in Pangasinan, Philippines, came from a very poor background. His family had no choice but to work, collectively, while he and his siblings toiled in the fields of Pangasinan, and abroad in the United States, just so they could [barely] subsist on their earnings and scrap by.
The main character, Allos, must relocate to the United States, to find work in various odd jobs (including the canneries of California and Washington state). He is faced with racism from all sides--Caucasians, exploitative Chinese and Japanese bosses, and just about everyone else. The darker your skin, the harder the discrimination fell on workers of the 1930s and 1940s. This came with strict laws again miscygenation. If you were Filipino, just speaking to a White woman could get you in a lot of hot water. Yet, in the face of all of this pain, Allos becomes involved as a labor organizer and demonstrator for the rights of exploited laborers. What's more, he meets and is reunited with friends and family, over the course of the story, and even finds friendship with a Caucasian woman, Mary.
AMERICA IS IN THE HEART beautifully recounts the pain that faced countless laborers who arrived in the United States to bring in income for their families, in their countries. Many of the passages read like poetry, yet remain very accessable to people for whom the concept of the plight of migrant workers is a fairly foreign concept. Great reading.
Voice to FilAms.......2006-11-26
I first read this book for a Filipino History class at UCLA in 1991. I read it again this year and have appreciated it more. Age and the fact that I re-read it for pleasure this time around can make a difference.... Though I do miss the book discussion at UCLA.
What I love about "America is in the Heart" is that the book gives voice to Filipino Americans, particularly to the forgotten ones from the early part of last century. Just like the Filipino American War, only a few knows about this chapter of American History. The struggles and successes of this group of Filipino men should be heard and this book gives good account of their experiences.
My own thoughts/reflections on America..........2004-09-10
This book tells the story of Allos (or Carlos) Bulosan - from his early days as a peasant child in the Phillipines to his days as an itinerant laborer and reformer for the Filipinos in America. This autobiography reflects the hard life of a persecuted nationality. With no rights to own agricultural land and the risks of being beaten for even conversing with a white women, Filipinos were despised along the West Coast and treated as criminals and monkeys. With no legal recourse or organizations, Filipino workers were often exploited by the contractors and the Chinese and Japanese who owned the gambling houses and whorehouses. This exploitation led many to drinking and violence, only to aggravate the hatred of their kind. Bulosan tells of the brutalities endured by Filipinos at the hands of the white community and of the terrors of disease and unemployment. How many times did Bulosan have to hear "You're fired!" after trying to stand up for himself and his people.
One thing that struck me about the book was the concept of meeting your siblings when you're old enough to remember it. Having grown up with my older sister always at my side, the first scene in which he firsts meets his older brother, Leon seemed very foreign to me. It brought home the point that working families didn't always have the luxury of living together. To survive, each family member had to contribute whether it was working the fields or selling goods in the market, but it meant that the whole family was not united. This family never seemed to be fully together, at least one sibling or parent was always away, trying to do their part. It was hard for me to really relate to that, although I certainly felt for them.
Another concept that I noticed was the sense of time in the book. While Carlos was in America, I never really grasped how much time was passing, and it seemed that Carlos himself didn't either. When reflecting, he often wondered at how many years it had been since he arrived in Seattle. Even after reading the book, I'm not sure exactly of the years that this autobiography covers, although I'm given a few references to historical events and figures. While years seemed to be pass by unnoticed, Carlos writes of an "acute sense of time" because he has to focus on the present just to survive. He writes, "yesterday seemed long ago and tomorrow was too far away. It was today that I lived for aimless, this hour - this moment." That to me was an interesting contrast.
Carlos also wrote of the conflicting visions of America - how it could be so cruel at times, while certain aspects could be so kind. He could not understand the country that terrorized his people, and yet contained some people so willing to help. The violence and pain Carlos experienced made him fear even himself - that he would not be able to contain his rage and would last out. He was afraid of his own brutality, even when he longed for goodness and love in the country of opportunity.
This book is filled with names and places, and it is often difficult to remember exactly who's who or what happened in which city. As Carlos travels all along the West Coast and meets a great many people. Surprisingly to me, his world seems small, as he meets most of his friends and companions multiple times during his travels. Seemingly by chance, he encounters his brothers who came to America before him. Maybe it was vastly different then, but I have a hard time imagining that continuous traveling on the coast would lead you to your family and friends as often as it did for Carlos. However, since the Filipinos were confined to certain districts, I guess it shouldn't be so surprising.
The last parts of the book relate Carlos' experience in trying to organize the Filipino labor movement, and his intellectual emergence as a writer. Throughout this section, Carlos regains his faith in America, as he meets more people fighting for his people and reads dozens of books proving that situations can get better and uneducated people can write the story of their people and their struggles. America became a part of Carlos - through it's land and his struggles and successes in it. He wanted desperately to help America grow into the country he knew it could be, and he sacrificed so much for America. His hopes were contained within America, and so America was contained within him.
The subaltern has spoken........2003-08-17
Writing a review of Carlos Bulosan's AMERICA IS IN THE HEART is a deceptively difficult thing to do. What gives? It is an easy read, very straightforward, and well articulated. On the surface, the ARCHIVE (in the Foucault sense) point to a death by a broken heart. However, closer examination points to a death brought on by the collective affliction, deprivation, and maltreatment since his arrival in the early 30s - not to mention the bouts of excessive drinking and violence. The book, moreover, leans toward a united effort to combat global fascism; but this poignant autobiography is really a testimony to those years of struggle against racism and violence.
An autobiography in four parts, Bulosan takes us back (literally and figuratively) to his roots in Binalonan, Pangasinan. Bulosan is keen to intimate his adolescent years were his family barely survived on four hectares of land (which they eventually lost to the moneylender and the absentee landlords) and the efforts of the DYNAMIC LITTLE PEASANT WOMAN. In the end, things just got SO BAD that the men (most barely boys) in the clan eventually opted for the promise of jobs and such in America. This begs the question (and often overlooked by scholars) that the suffering really started at home. His habitus was so bad, it seems, that despite the ravages he (and his direct kin as well as kababayans) experienced, they elected to remain in the US. That seems to be the common plight of most immigrants to the US - and I say this guardedly.
At this point, I would like to juxtapose the optimism and the rage that formed the collective consciousness of Carlos Bulosan and his inability to reconcile the contradiction.
AMERICA IS ALSO THE NAMELESS FOREIGNER, THE HOMELESS REFUGEE, THE HUNGRY BOY BEGGING FOR A JOB AND THE BLACK BODY DANGLING ON A TREE. AMERICA IS THE ILLITERATE IMMIGRANT WHO IS ASHAMED THAT THE WORLD OF BOOKS AND THE INTELLECTUAL OPPORTUNITIES IS CLOSED TO HIM.
WE ARE ALL THAT NAMELESS FOREIGNER, THE HOMELESS REFUGEE, THAT HUNGRY BOY, THAT ILLITERATE IMMIGRANT AND THAT LYNCHED BLACK BODY. ALL OF US, FROM THE FIRST ADAMS TO THE LAST FILIPINO, NATIVE BORN OR ALIEN, EDUCATED OR ILLITERATE. WE ARE AMERICA!
Carlos Bulosan, excerpt from AMERICA IS IN THE HEART
Almost echoing the angst of Richard Wright, Bulosan and his proletarian experience is translated quickly to a racism tour-de-force. It cuts right into the heart of his critique. Despite being laced with communist verbiage, the autobiography is a critique against the savagery of prejudice. The subaltern has spoken. We simply need to take heed.
One of the most compelling or fascinating issues brought up in AMERICA IS IN THE HEART is the issue of gender discrimination. The laws prohibiting marriage to white women by so-called Mongolian (and later changed to include Malay) was to exacerbate the racist problems. What is the REAL impact on the psyche of a law such as this? What are the long-term effects of ignorant eugenic laws such as these? Who knows?
Despite the clarity of the writing, it would seem that the book was written in good faith but it certainly fumbles from a lack of sophistication (which does not pose a problem for me). I don't think Bulosan meant this work to be representative of the entire Filipino-American experience but it certainly suffers an editorial/historical problem. Bulosan certainly edits his experience. Punctuated with a sense of disgust for the human experience it makes me feel that he lacks pathos. In terms of the veracity of the entire book, I have no problem believing the accuracy of the experience but history is already removed one step to us via the writer and one more step removed again by the writer to his actual experience. We may never get to the REAL truth and the REAL extent of the violence. However, if but one experience of violence against a Filipino AS SUCH, or a denial of lodging to a Filipino AS SUCH (or any group for that matter) is accurate then an injustice has occurred. We as a body politic should take note. AMERICA IS IN THE HEART is therefore a book that is also a call for collective agency.
To re-iterate, this book may not be fully representative of the PINOY experience and certainly Bulosan should be read carefully. It is an indictment on a negative social condition - where one man can create an OTHER in a society that plays up universal brotherhood. Not to trivialize the concern, this is not an uncommon malady. The question that begs to be asked is: Does Bulosan write AS IF he is writing about the whole truth?
In closing, Bulosan is a necessary read because it augments the selection of the Asian-American experience in general and ethnic studies in general. It is a deep and cutting exploration into a Filipino experience - it adds to the complexity of identity creation. If anything, this book is a pause to be self-reflective of the past for both the SAME and the OTHER. In loving memory to a brave kababayan...
Miguel Llora
A Tragic Attempt at Tragedy.......2003-05-28
Those looking for an uplifting read need to look elsewhere; Bulosan's "America..." reads like a laundry list of suffering and hopelessness. Bulosan writes powerfully, compellingly and beatifully, but he would have been better off sticking to his own story instead of trying to create a composite.
With tragedy so frequently present nowadays, it doesn't seem hard to believe that Bulosan's protagonist would experience so much tragedy (extreme poverty, deaths, heartbreak in every sense of the word, a severely debilitating disease, etc., etc.). A closer reading reveals that he has indeed created a composite, mashing the numerous hard-luck stories of the Filipino migrant workers of that time into a single person's life. It is difficult to believe, but if you can get beyond that fact, "America..." proves a depressing read with important historical weight, chronicling the ups and mostly downs of the Filipino migrant, with a progression from childhood to the life's winding down phase.
I lent this book to my grandfather, who lived at approximately the same time, and could very well have been in the provincial areas, practicing the customs Bulosan described. It was extremely disappointing but enlightening to have him give the book a thumbs down based on accuracy. Many descriptions of the hardships of not only Bulosan but those around him, particularly in the Philippines, were much too tragic for my grandfather to take, although he had suffered plenty in his childhood.
Often in writing stories, reality is much more interesting than fiction; by trying to unrealistically include everyone's experiences as one individual's trial does create an unbelievable tale, that will be even more difficult for those unaccustomed to the goings-on and atmosphere of a third-world country.
Bulosan's work is important as it is one of the select pieces of Filipino-American literature that has made the rounds in universities and literary circles, and that it covers an often forgotten group and struggle in American history. However, his attempt to create an all-encompassing experience within a single character is his downfall. A read recommended with a grain of salt.
Book Description
In the tradition of The Perfect Storm and Flags of Our Fathers, Halsey’s Typhoon chronicles the epic tale of men clashing against the ruthless forces of war and nature. In December 1944, America’s most popular and colorful naval hero, Admiral William “Bull” Halsey, unwittingly sailed his undefeated Pacific Fleet into the teeth of the most powerful storm on earth. Three destroyers were capsized sending hundreds of sailors and officers into the raging, shark infested waters. Over the next sixty hours, small bands of survivors fought seventy-foot waves, exhaustion, and dehydration to await rescue at the hands of the courageous Lt. Com. Henry Lee Plage, who, defying orders, sailed his tiny destroyer escort USS Tabberer through 150 mph winds to reach the lost men. Thanks to documents that have been declassified after sixty years and dozens of first-hand accounts from survivors—including former President Gerald Ford—one of the greatest World War II stories, and a riveting tale of survival at sea, can finally be told.
Customer Reviews:
Halsey's Typhoon.......2007-09-30
Outstanding!! Best WW2 historial book I have ever read. Wonderful background info on key issues and people
"Sea Cobra" wins.......2007-08-21
"Halsey's Typhoon": earned one star for the awesome photos of future Prsident Gerald Ford skying for the basketball on the basketball court and
Commander Henry Lee Plage of the USS Tabberer looking three times cooler than Fonzie and John Wayne put together. He proved in action to be three times the hero that he looked.
"Halsey's Typhoon": earned three negative stars for a boring start, middle and end as well as talking down to the reader (constantly using words that had to be looked up and when I looked them up the results were staggering. The words were constantly listed as slang, archaic, obsolete and the meaning didn't even fit the sentence!!!)
"Sea Cobra" by Buckner F. Melton Jr.: covers the same event and earned 4.5 stars. It was extremely user friendly and made the story come to life. You felt like you were with the sailors fighting Typhoon Cobra and Typhoon Viper and Commander's Plage's decision to ignore Halsey's orders and amazingly rescue drowning sailors.
"Sea Cobra": earned .5 negative stars due to lesser photos.
Tragedy and Human Response.......2007-08-17
This is a great book recounting the story of the typhoon in December of 1944 that swept through the Phillipine Sea and sunk three American destroyers costing over the lives of over 700 sailors. The author is very good and not only describing these events, but laying out much of the background that lead to them.
Its important to never forget the old adage that "hindsight is 20/20" in assigning responsibility to other people for their response or lack of response to the events around them. This book provides much food for thought about not only Halsey's Typhoon of 1944, but it can also furnish us guidance about responding to contemporary tragedies. In that sense, its more than just an old World War II story.
Acts of God like hurricanes and typhoons may be beyond our control. However, emergency planning and response may make all the difference in the world. Those who read this book will be struck by the actions of Lieutenant Commander Henry Plage who commanded another destroyer at the time, the U.S.S. Tabor. He was quick to respond to the catastrophe and using skills of superior seamanship rescued dozens of drowning sailors from the ocean. Plage couldn't have done it without a well trained crew and understanding the fine art of sailing in seas with waves and swells as high as 100 feet.
Another example of response to this catastrophe took place on board an aircraft carrier, the U.S.S Monterrey. This ship had caught fire after airplanes were flung about their hangars and ruptured gasoline tanks started an inferno. The situation became so bad, an order was given to abandon ship. The crew decided though that they could save the Monterrey and they proceeded to do so by fighting the fire in a very thought out manner. The Monterrey was saved by its dedicated and competent crew.
Old ships that were top heavy capsized in the hurricane. New ships that were designed to ride out bad weather survived the storm.
Its a very interesting book that gives us much to think about.
A compelling story marred by errors and style.......2007-08-01
Halsey's Typhoon is a World War II disaster-survival tale about Typhoon Cobra enveloping the U.S. Navy's Third Fleet, commanded by Admiral William F. (Bull) Halsey, in the Philippine Sea in December 1944.
The best part of the book, by far, is the second half. Participants, primarily surviving crew members of the three sunken destroyers or the destroyer escort Tabberer which rescued 60% of the survivors despite its own severe damage, relate their experiences during the storm, floating in the water for 24-48 hours, being rescued and recovering These survivors' and rescuers' tales, related recently to the authors by a handful of remaining veterans, are informative, frightening, fascinating, memorable and inspiring. I'm glad their firsthand experiences, even in part, have been published.
Unfortunately, apart from the survivors' personal narratives, this book's deficiencies are many. The authors seem to have relatively little knowledge of either the Navy or World War II, with misused terms and questionable characterization events being too numerous to itemize. Examples include referring to the flag flown at the bow of a naval vessel as a "battle guideon" (an Army term for what the Navy calls a battle jack); calling a ship's mess deck its mess hall; repeatedly referring USS Monaghan as having "drawn first blood" when it sank a Japanese mini-sub inside Pearl Harbor thirty minutes after the attack started whereas it is widely acknowledged that USS Ward sank a Japanese mini-sub outside the entrance of Pearl Harbor before the aerial attack even commenced; describing MacArthur's invasion of Luzon as a "stepping stone" toward Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Japan itself when it was arguably more of a strategic distraction from Nimitz's Central Pacific island hopping campaign through Guadalcanal, Guam, Saipan, etc. that actually established the air bases from which the U.S. directly struck Japan in 1945 and opened the route to Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
Also, the book needs serious editing to eliminate wordiness, inconsistencies (e.g., ascribing different ranks or titles to the same people within the scope of a few days) and questionable or obscure metaphors. For instance, does it make sense to describe Halsey's belated decision to allow his command to break formation in order for individual captains to concentrate on the safety of their ships to being like "Mrs. O'Leary reporting her cow missing?" The authors' wordiness and commitment of space to irrelevant biographical details or wartime events may have been a way to deal with the fact that a concise rendition of their most original and compelling material would have filled perhaps just half as many pages.
Finally, apart from the sunken destroyers and their principal rescuing vessel, former-President Ford's experiences on the USS Monterey and descriptions of near-disaster on the USS Aylwin, there are few details about what happened to any of the other vessels during the typhoon. Finally, there is nothing whatsoever about how the typhoon affected the war effort. How long did it take before the damaged Third Fleet was again combat ready? What impact did the loss of Third Fleet air cover have on the Army's Mindoro campaign, which was the reason Halsey was so reluctant to release his ships from formation? The world wants to know...
The book's three sections - The Fleet, the Storm and The Rescue - are divided into twenty-five unnamed chapters that total 266 pages. An Epilogue (immediate post-storm events), Afterword 2006 (post-WWII careers of some figures in the narrative), four-page bibliography, an index and miscellaneous addendums bring the page count to 322. Twenty-eight B&W photos illustrate some of the key characters and ships and endpaper charts depict locations relative to the typhoon track. There are no footnotes.
Recommended to naval history and WWII buffs, survival/adventure tale fans or anyone who lost a relative at sea during WWII due to the recounting of individual veterans' experiences. Not recommended to people seeking information about WWII campaigns and strategies or those seeking tightly composed nonfiction prose.
Not An Untold Story.......2007-07-29
This is not an untold story of the war, rather it has been told for years. Morrison has it in his HISTORY OF NAVAL OPERATION IN WORLD WAR II. Halsey's meteorologist wrote a book of almost exactly the same title 40 years ago.
The writing is not very good. It could have used more polishing and another draft, but my guess is that they were rushing to get it to press because another publisher had a book on exactly the same subject (SEA COBRA) coming out, and they wanted to get in first.
No footnotes or attribution. The bibliography is not that extensive. There is only a single map. More would have been very helpful in following the action -- repeatedly i had to try and figure out the navigation to figure out exactly which turn they were talking about. A mpa showing the ship dispossession within the fleet would have been invaluable.
The authors allow their oral history interviewees to settle old scores. Any officer who ever corrected them gets paid back here. Its true -- history gets written by survivors.
Interestingly, another phenomena of the war is described here -- it was common for ships to sail and have maybe 5% of the crew miss movement. "greatest Generation" and all that, but that alos meant the greatest amount of skulker. Unthinkable to have a ship in today's navy depart with that kind of AWOL.
Book Description
"[Cendrillon is] daring, different and a sure remedy for the malady, too widespread these days, of dining déjà vu."-Frank Bruni, the New York Times
The essence of Filipino food has always remained somewhat secluded in the family kitchens of Filipino homes, passed down through the generations, melding native traditions with those of Chinese, Spanish, and American cuisines. With Memories of Philippine Kitchens Amy Besa and Romy Dorotan, owners and chef at Soho's popular Cendrillon restaurant, present a fascinating look at Filipino cuisine and culture. They have spent years tracing the traditions of the food of the Philippines, and here they share the results of that research. From Lumpia, Pancit, and Kinilaw to Adobo and Lehon (the art of the well-roasted pig), the authors document dishes and culinary techniques that are rapidly disappearing and in some cases unknown to Filipinos whether in the Philippines or abroad.
In addition to offering more than 100 unique recipes culled from private Filipino kitchens and their own acclaimed menu, Besa and Dorotan vividly document the role of food in Filipino society, both old and new. Filled with hundreds of sumptuous photographs by the esteemed Filipino photographer Neal Oshima and colorful stories of food memories from the authors and other notable local cooks, the book is a joy to peruse both in and out of the kitchen.
Customer Reviews:
Roland's review.......2007-05-07
I bought two books from Amazon MEMORIES OF PHILIPPINE KITCHENS as gifts for my friends in the the Philippines. One day before my trip, your two books arrived with the top partially opened (only one piece of tape) and the Paper covers on both books totally wrinkled. Since I was leaving that evening, I just gave my friends the books without covers. I will think twice before using Amaon again. Book is excellent.
Roland Prijoles
A wonderful book on the food and heritage of the people of the Philippines.......2007-04-27
I grew-up next door to a wonderful Philippino family and often I'd be invited over for dinner. I just loved the Philippino food served and had since been looking for a good book that encompasses not only the food and recipes of the Philippine Islands, but also a book about the people.
Well, I FOUND IT!...this book is it! It has everything that I had wanted in a book about the Philippino (Filipino) peoples and also their exotic foods.
This hardback book is so well written and will not disappoint!
PS: The photos are just amazing too!
High Expectations and Better Than I Imaged.......2007-03-30
My wife is from the Philippines. I saw this book on the IACP Cookbook Awards Finalist list and thought she would enjoy a book containing recipes for some of the Philippine cuisine she hasn't cooked herself. Received the book today and expected it to be good, but it is even better than I imagined. There are many many fine color photographs with few text only pages and recipes for everything I've heard my wife mention over the years. I most enjoy cookbooks that go into the culture and history as well as providing top quality photographs, recipes, best practices, examples, etc. This book appears to have it all!
Outstanding blend of cuisine, culture, and photography.......2007-02-11
I recommend this book unconditionally for anyone who has any interest in the Philippines or Filipino culture, or one who simply seeks great information about an interesting cuisine. It is difficult, if not impossible, to separate cooking and meals from everything else that is Filipino. The authors and the photographer have done an outstanding job of capturing the essence of Filipino cooking and give us a glimpse into a very rich heritage built on love of family and home. This book is a great value and an even greater gift to those of use who are blessed to share in all things Pinoy. The photography is exceptional.
A scholarly anthropology.......2007-02-10
One thing must be made clear: "Memories ..." is not cookbook. Yes, the authors, who happen to be the proprietors of Cendrillon in New York, provide good recipes for many of the important Filipino dishes. But the book is much more a scholarly anthropology of what is perhaps the least understood of Asia's great cuisines. It tells you which dishes are truly indigenous, which ones are borrowed and adapted from Spain and Mexico and which ones are from Asian neighbors. The authors also tell you about wonderful personalities in the Philippines who produce dishes to die for. There is the master lechonero of Silay and the famous puto maker of Pila. There is even a bit of adventure -- they take you along in the hunt for the very elusive Kurakding, more rare and better tasting apparently than the white truffle of Piedmont! A fun book for intelligent foodies!
Book Description
On January 28, 1945, 121 hand-selected U.S. troops slipped behind enemy lines in the Philippines. Their mission: March thirty rugged miles to rescue 513 POWs languishing in a hellish camp, among them the last survivors of the infamous Bataan Death March. A recent prison massacre by Japanese soldiers elsewhere in the Philippines made the stakes impossibly high and left little time to plan the complex operation.
In
Ghost Soldiers Hampton Sides vividly re-creates this daring raid, offering a minute-by-minute narration that unfolds alongside intimate portraits of the prisoners and their lives in the camp. Sides shows how the POWs banded together to survive, defying the Japanese authorities even as they endured starvation, tropical diseases, and torture. Harrowing, poignant, and inspiring,
Ghost Soldiers is the mesmerizing story of a remarkable mission. It is also a testament to the human spirit, an account of enormous bravery and self-sacrifice amid the most trying conditions.
Download Description
On January 28, 1945, 121 hand-selected U.S. troops slipped behind enemy lines in the Philippines. Their mission: March thirty rugged miles to rescue 513 POWs languishing in a hellish camp, among them the last survivors of the infamous Bataan Death March. A recent prison massacre by Japanese soldiers elsewhere in the Philippines made the stakes impossibly high and left little time to plan the complex operation.
In Ghost Soldiers Hampton Sides vividly re-creates this daring raid, offering a minute-by-minute narration that unfolds alongside intimate portraits of the prisoners and their lives in the camp. Sides shows how the POWs banded together to survive, defying the Japanese authorities even as they endured starvation, tropical diseases, and torture. Harrowing, poignant, and inspiring, Ghost Soldiers is the mesmerizing story of a remarkable mission. It is also a testament to the human spirit, an account of enormous bravery and self-sacrifice amid the most trying conditions.
"[Sides] liberates his story from documentary and turns it into epic.... More than any monument, Ghost Soldiers is the memorial both prisoners and liberators deserve."
THE SEATTLE TIMES
"The greatest World War II story never told."
ESQUIRE
"[A] beautiful account of heroism.... Sure to be a classic."
MEN'S JOURNAL
"Riveting and patriotically stirring without ever slipping into mawkishness or sentimentality."
THE NEW YORK TIMES
"Thoroughly researched and artfully told.... A compelling story filled with colorful characters."
THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Customer Reviews:
Finds the STORY in HISTORY, and does so beautifully.......2007-10-08
I absolutely loved this book. Hampton Sides does an amazing job here of finding all the most interesting, the strangest, the most unusual details of this fascinating true story--from the two toothless men who shared a single pair of dentures at mealtime, to the POWs with the weird malady that made them grow [...]., to the story of "High Pockets" the nightclub-owning spy; the digressions in this book are as fascinating as the story itself, and such details have a wonderful humanizing effect on the depictions of the book's main characters.
"Ghost Soldiers" is the story of an amazing military raid made in the Philipines during World War II, an insanely risky attempt to break into a Japanese prison camp deep in enemy territory, to release the large number of American POWs there before their possible executions.
The story is compelling, the action is intense, and the ending is loaded with the sorts of things that will give you chills and maybe even make you tear up.
I loved this book. Immediately after finishing it, I forced it onto my wife, who's now enjoying it as well. The story is amazing, and the writing is terrific: without frills, but beautiful in its simplicity, telling of "the elite of the damned," the bananna leaves "wormy" with bulletholes, and more.
I enjoyed this much more than I did any of Stephen Ambrose's books, though comparions between the two are certainly apt, in that both Ambrose and Sides are thorough historians with a knack for finding the story in real-life events.
Sides's "Blood and Thunder" is great as well, for anyone who enjoyed this and is looking for more.
Outstanding book.......2007-09-03
This was an outstanding book, about a real WW2 event. The author (Sides) does a terrific job of balancing the details of the raid itself, the personal story of a lot of the main figures, and the overall "big picture" of the Pacific war. He also addresses the cultural differences between the Empire of Japan and the USA that played so strong an underlying part in the Cabanatuan experience (or, for that matter, any prison camp run by the Japanese).
He is objective - he doesn't "slam" the Japs but attempts to explain the mindset they were in, while at the same time not letting them off the hook for atrocities.
Wonderful job in presenting this little-remembered but important American event in WW2...this book is well-worth the purchase and could be used as an historical textbook.
Gripping, Intense Account of Human Survival.......2007-07-28
Hampton Sides does an outstanding job of weaving past and present in this story of a World War II rescue mission. The unspeakable suffering endured by the POWs only makes their remarkable spirit more inspiring, and the author's in-depth research enables a comprehensive treatment of a complex story. Also fascinating were the exploits of little-known heroes like Claire Phillips and the chaplains who smuggled news and life-prolonging materials into the Cabanatuan camp. The description of the role played by Filipino guerrillas, the chronicle of the prisoners' homecoming, and especially the haunting quotations from prisoners' poignant diaries and poetry round out a very satisfying read. Highly recommended.
Important story, well told.......2007-07-05
I found this on a young adult reading list, but it is suitable for adults as well. A warning for young people and especially those who want to suggest it to young people, it is very violent and graphic in some places. That is appropriate for the subject matter, but some readers might be disturbed by it. Those who expect a ghost story will be disappointed. I found it a fascinating and compelling story, very well told. I don't usually read war fiction, so I don't have the same standards as those who are looking for more technical information. It is an important story that needed to be told. Reading it in these times brings all sorts of modern resonances about war, prisoners, cultural differences to mind. The two one star reviews that this book has received so far seem to be from people who don't understand the rating system.
A little known epic recue.......2007-06-03
Being a self proclaimed WWII buff, I was surprised by how little I knew about the events that are covered in this book. It's an amazingly heart wretching story of survival and heroism in the Pacific Theatre of the war. The book is very readable and enjoyable. Definatly recommended.
Book Description
Filipino Americans, who experience life in the United States as immigrants, colonized nationals, and racial minorities, have been little studied, though they are one of our largest immigrant groups. Based on her in-depth interviews with more than one hundred Filipinos in San Diego, California, Yen Le Espiritu investigates how Filipino women and men are transformed through the experience of migration, and how they in turn remake the social world around them. Her sensitive analysis reveals that Filipino Americans confront U.S. domestic racism and global power structures by living transnational lives that are shaped as much by literal and symbolic ties to the Philippines as they are by social, economic, and political realities in the United States.
Espiritu deftly weaves vivid first-person narratives with larger social and historical contexts as she discovers the meaning of home, community, gender, and intergenerational relations among Filipinos. Among other topics, she explores the ways that female sexuality is defined in contradistinction to American mores and shows how this process becomes a way of opposing racial subjugation in this country. She also examines how Filipinos have integrated themselves into the American workplace and looks closely at the effects of colonialism.
Customer Reviews:
A must-read Asian American Studies, Post-Colonial Studies, Immigrant Studies Text .......2006-01-19
Yen Le Espiritu, in her book, Home Bound: Filipino American Lives Across Cultures, Communities, and Countries, "contends that Filipino American racial formation is determined not only by the social, economic, and political forces in the United States but also by U.S. (neo)colonialism in the Philippines and capital investment in Asia" (1). Moreover, not content with the narrow, one-sided focus that Filipinos are transformed through the experience of colonialism and migration, Espiritu highlights how Filipinos "in turn transform and remake the social world around them" (2). Home Bound is most specifically an ethnographic study of Filipino Americans in and around San Diego, CA, that is grounded nicely by Espiritu through U.S. immigration laws, U.S. imperialism and colonialism, and intersectional analyses. Espiritu presents the experiences of Filipino Americans in order to educate us about this often overlooked population through their own voices.
Scholars in Women's Studies and Gender Studies may be especially drawn to chapter 7, where Espiritu focuses on the way gender is used by racialized immigrants to assert their superiority over the dominant (white). In this chapter Espiritu turns to second generation daughters and the way in which it is through them, specifically the enforcement of their "female morality-defined as women's dedication to their families and sexual restraint" (160), that racialized immigrants construct themselves as superior. In other words, in light of the racist oppressions they face, one method of responding that immigrants have deployed is to assert their (daughters') moral superiority over whites. Through the lens of generations (first, second, etc.) of immigration, Espiritu challenges us to think of the multiple, intersectional systems, at play, while making clear that this manner of response is not without its own complications and contradictions (namely, the perpetuation of sexist oppression and patriarchal power over daughters).
In addition, I found particularly compelling the end of Espiritu's book, chapters 8 and 9, where she delves more in depth to the ways in which Filipino Americans transform and remake the world around them. These two chapters excitingly point to the new and creative relations constructed by Filipino Americans in regards to cross-racial social relations and immigration as a technology of racialization and gendering.
Customer Reviews:
The US and the Phillipines.......2007-06-27
This is an excellent account of the history of United States relations with the Phillipines. It is well written,well researched and facinating reading.
Fast paced reding of history.......2007-02-22
Gives a good overview to US-Philippines economic, social and political relations. Good detail yet easy to read due to a well developed writing style. The authors' many anecdotal observations were annotated, thereby helping to reveal potential biases, unlike many writings. Strongly recommended for any studies of Philippines 20th century history.
Highly Recommended.......2006-11-18
A good friend of mine recommended this book to me. He said it would give me a better perspective on the history and culture of the Philippines and also the relationship it has with the United States. After reading this book, I have to agree with him. My wife is a Filipina and I think I understand where she's coming from in a deeper way now. A lot of this wasn't covered in the history classes growing up. I learned more about the political structure and history the Philippines has and how it was basically America's failed attempt at colonialism. I recommend this to anyone interested in history, especially if you have friends or family from the PI.
Detailed history, and very very well written.......2006-03-25
I almost gave this 5 stars.
All of the book is detailed, is accurate as far as I can tell, and is very well written. But it is sharter than it should be. It does a very good job summing up the period until the U.S. took over.
But for the main part of the book, at times it covers the period well and then for other times it skims over it. Maybe the problem is that a lot happened over this period. But an author like Robert Caro would have taken the time to flesh out all of the periods.
This is much like "A World Lit Only by Fire" or Citizen Soldiers - a trip through a period of time, diving down for depth here and there. But in this case, where the book is supposed to be a history of America's involvement in the Phillippines, it suffers from it's brevity.
Good book but I wish there was more.
Excellent Read.......2004-12-09
This book allows one to get as full of picture as possible of the the Washingto thought process during the Spanish American War period and America's subjugation of the Philippine islands. This is not a boring history read and offers parrallels into the current washington political crowd and our war in Iraq. Thr projection of America's culture and values was tried in The Philippines with some success but we should realize that in the end Americans are from America and Filipinos are from the Philippines and Iraqis are from Iraq and will ALWAYS be different. The book is written very intelligently and won the nobel prize for Karnow. If you like History, if you like Politics, then you should like this book.
Customer Reviews:
BUY IT.......2006-03-30
Wonderful book on contemporary tropical design. Just looking at the pictures transports me to another place! I've even incorporated some of the simple design ideas into my own home. From the simple & serene to the eclectic, you won't be disappointed.
Functional Art.......2005-04-28
In short, this book has exceptional photos and displays wonderful furniture and design of natural materials. It's amazing to see how these materials can be formed into such beautiful and practical pieces of furniture. It's functional art!
Amazon.com's Best of 2001
The Bataan Death March was just the beginning of the woes American soldiers captured by the Japanese army in the Philippines had to endure. The survivors of the march faced not only their captors' regular brutality (having surrendered, they were considered to be less than honorable foes), but also a host of illnesses such as dysentery and malaria. For three years these "ghost soldiers" lived in misery, suffering terrible losses.
When Army Rangers among Douglas MacArthur's forces arrived in the Philippines, they hatched a daring plan to liberate their captured comrades, a mission that, if successful, would prove to be a tremendous morale booster at the front and at home. Led by a young officer named Henry Mucci (called "Little MacArthur" for his constant pipe as well as his brilliance as a strategist), a combined Ranger and Filipino guerrilla force penetrated far behind enemy lines, attacked Japanese forces guarding Allied prisoners at a jungle outpost called Cabanatuan, and shepherded hundreds of prisoners to safety, with an angry Japanese army in hot pursuit. Amazingly, they suffered only light casualties.
In Ghost Soldiers, journalist Hampton Sides recounts that daring rescue, once known to every American schoolchild but now long forgotten. A gifted storyteller, Sides packs his narrative with detailed descriptions of the principal actors on both sides of the struggle and with moments of danger and exhilaration. Thrilling from start to finish, his book celebrates the heroism of hundreds of warriors and brings renewed attention to one of the Rangers' finest hours. --Gregory McNamee
Book Description
A tense, powerful, grand account of one of the most daring exploits of World War II.
On January 28, 1945, 121 hand-selected troops from the elite U.S. Army 6th Ranger Battalion slipped behind enemy lines in the Philippines. Their mission: March thirty miles in an attempt to rescue 513 American and British POWs who had spent three years in a surreally hellish camp near the city of Cabanatuan. The prisoners included the last survivors of the Bataan Death March left in the camp, and their extraordinary will to live might soon count for nothing—elsewhere in the Philippines, the Japanese Army had already executed American prisoners as it retreated from the advancing U.S. Army. As the Rangers stealthily moved through enemy-occupied territory, they learned that Cabanatuan had become a major transshipment point for the Japanese retreat, and instead of facing the few dozen prison guards, they could possibly confront as many as 8,000 battle-hardened enemy troops.
Hampton Sides's vivid minute-by-minute narration of the raid and his chronicle of the prisoners' wrenching experiences are masterful. But
Ghost Soldiers is far more than a thrilling battle saga. Hampton Sides explores the mystery of human behavior under extreme duress—the resilience of the prisoners, who defied the Japanese authorities even as they endured starvation, tropical diseases, and unspeakable tortures; the violent cultural clashes with Japanese guards and soldiers steeped in the warrior ethic of Bushido; the remarkable heroism of the Rangers and Filipino guerrillas; the complex motivations of the U.S. high command, some of whom could justly be charged with abandoning the men of Bataan in 1942; and the nearly suicidal bravado of several spies, including priests and a cabaret owner, who risked their lives to help the prisoners during their long ordeal.
At once a gripping depiction of men at war and a compelling story of redemption,
Ghost Soldiers joins such landmark books as
Flags of Our Fathers,
The Greatest Generation,
The Rape of Nanking, and
D-Day in preserving the legacy of World War II for future generations.
Customer Reviews:
gripping, heroic WWII tale.......2007-04-26
My father had a friend who he always identified as "that guy survived the Bataan Death March". I was too young to really understand what that was but the way my dad became so reverand about it I knew it must have been bad. I now finally know just how bad it was. In a gripping, harrowing, page turner of a book follow the rescue attempt of American GI's from
Cabanatuan death camp in the Philippines. Unforgettable.
Worth the read, but not perfect........2007-03-17
This is more of the story about the prison camp and the prisoners themselves, so if you are looking for a super dramatic battle story this is not it. The raid is not an easy or boring one by any means, but it is no huge conflict. That said, it doesnt take away from the story, because while I started the book looking for a big battle, i later found myself interested in the life of the prison camp. Also, the book does tend to slow down to a halt in a few places, but it does not kill the read. Anyway, it truly is worth the read and i give it four good stars, pick it up.
Very well written.......2007-01-14
This is a fascinating, extremely well-written (an easy read) book about an interesting subject (though I hear the movie based on the book is not very good). I am giving it 4 1/2 stars rather arbitrarily, because the author does not appear to be a professional historian, does appear to make a few historical errors, and because I like to save 5 stars for professional historians. After all, they make less money than regular authors and have to teach students for a living on top of that!
More than just a flight to freedom..........2006-09-11
Ghost Soldiers is an excellent account of the liberation of the allied POW's from the Cabanatuan death camp in the Philippines. The book consists of a very large part of primary material, the authors interviews with the former prisoners and in some cases their surviving relatives.
Where most of the healthier POWs had been shipped elsewhere at the time, including to Japan, those remaining in the Cabanatuan camp towards the end of January 1945 were the "sick and the dregs, the sickest and the weakest." As the book also states "They were a special lot, a subset of a subset of bad fortune, an elite of the damned."
General Walter Kruger was General MacArthur's commander of the U.S. Sixth Army. He was tasked by MacArthur to "Go to Manila. Go around them, go through them, but go to Manila." This presented General Kruger with a problem when he received intelligence of a prison camp just over 30 miles away from his forces, that contained the remaining 500 or so allied POW's, mostly survivors from the infamous Bataan death march. The intelligence indicated that the Japanese were likely to execute all prisoners if the allies got too close to Cabanatuan.
Since they could not slow down their advance, the General quickly dispatched an outfit of 121 Rangers of the 6th Ranger Battalion. The rangers were at the time a new and largely unproven elite force of highly trained soldiers, that would work together with the local guerilla to liberate the POWs. The urgency of the mission was immense. Intelligence indicated that they had less than 3 days before the Japanese were likely to start massacring these prisoners due to the proximity of allied forces.
This book describes the events leading up to the surrender of the American forces in the Philippines and the subsequent march that has been referred to as the "Bataan death march". The book's focus switches frequently between the lives of the prisoners in the camp, and the actions of their liberators led by Colonel Henry Mucci. The book culminates with the actual prison break and the harrowing flight back to allied lines with these 513 men, many too weak to walk, with the Japanese in hot pursuit.
The book does a very good job at giving a good insight into the daily lives of the prisoners. It contains sometimes tragic but also comical accounts of how the prisoners were affected by countless infections and severe vitamin deficiency. It shows how the prisoners managed to retain a sort of normalcy in the situation they were in, and how their amazing ingenuity helped make it their "home" for three years.
I found every aspect of this book exciting, whether it was about the history leading up to Bataan march, information about the daily lives of the prisoners, or the actual rescue. It becomes obvious that the rescue could not have been undertaken without the help of the two Philippine guerilla units lead by Eduardo Joson and Juan Pajota. These are given their due credit in this book as well.
I do not hesitate to give the book 5 stars - highly recommended.
A gruesome POW journey and the great raid that liberated those that survived........2006-05-16
This is a great book that goes back and forward detailing two journeys that finally meet at the end.
The first journey was made by American troops from the battles of Battan and Corregidor that surrendered to the Japanese army in the Philippines, confronting a gruesome reality of suffering and misery that placed them face to face with the Japanese Imperial Army that at the time was brain washed by a society heavily influenced by the military and believed they were a superior race and that surrender was one of the worst disgraces a human being could do to their divine emperor, family and country. This grandiose mentality automatically categorized the newly surrender American as an insignificant race not worthy of humane treatment. As a consequence, they experienced starvation, torture and death by a variety of methods including: bad nutrition, tropical diseases, decapitation and shooting.
The second journey is the preparation and execution of a courageous raid by the 6th Ranger Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Henry Mucci and their assault commander Capitan Robert Prince and supported by equally courage's Philippines' guerrillas, that finally ended with the liberation of POW's of the Cabanatuan camp and their slow and dangerous trip back to the American lines with the help of brave Philippines' civilians.
This is one of those well written amazing true stories, which everyone should read.
Book Description
It has been termed an insurgency, a revolution, a guerrilla war, and a conventional war. As David J. Silbey demonstrates in this taut, compelling history, the 1899 Philippine-American War was in fact all of these. Played out over three distinct conflicts—one fought between the Spanish and the allied United States and Filipino forces; one fought between the United States and the Philippine Army of Liberation; and one fought between occupying American troops and an insurgent alliance of often divided Filipinos—the war marked America’s first steps as a global power and produced a wealth of lessons learned and forgotten.
In A War of Frontier and Empire, Silbey traces the rise and fall of President Emilio Aguinaldo, as Aguinaldo tries to liberate the Philippines from colonial rule only to fail, devastatingly, before a relentless American army. He tracks President McKinley’s decision to commit troops and fulfill a divinely inspired injunction to “uplift and civilize” despite the protests of many Americans. Most important, Silbey provides a clear lens to view the Philippines as, in the crucible of war, it transforms itself from a territory divided by race, ethnicity, and warring clans into a cohesive nation on the path to independence.
Customer Reviews:
Understanding American and Philippine History.......2007-09-10
Historian David Silbey examines the Philippine-American War in his book, A WAR OF FRONTIER AND EMPIRE: THE PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN WAR, 1899-1902. After reading the book, the bottom line is that the event was controversial and misinterpreted in terms of gender roles, racial stereotypes, politics, economics, and imperialistic endeavors. Although historians argue that the war may have been a blunder on America's part, Silbey broadly suggests that in the eyes of the Filipino people, it was a victory that took over 40 years to achieve. Despite Philippine freedom from Spanish colonial rule in 1899, it was the annexation of the territory by the United States in 1902, which deferred that freedom until after World War II.
As a military historian, Silbey engages the reader with core American military and political leaders who were involved in the conflict as well as the background information pertaining to how the conflict originated. There is no doubt that readers will have a better understanding of who the key individuals were, such as President William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, Brig. General Arthur MacArthur, General Elwell Otis, Emilio Aguinaldo, and Gregorio del Pilar. An interesting aspect of the book is how Silbey maintains objectivity and parallels this event with previous historical events and leaders, shadows of the Civil War and President Lincoln and links and origins of the war, such as the sinking of the Maine and US intervention in Cuba, which triggered involvement in the Philippines with the Battle of Manila Bay. Furthermore, it was refreshing to see that Silbey makes an attempt to discuss and introduce the social, cultural, and geography of the Philippines and the Filipino people.
For readers who have studied this particular event, they will not find new findings or the use of undiscovered resource material in this book. Thus Silbey's narrative is derived from scholarly works that have been published during the past 100 years. And due to the size of the book, 218 pages of narrative, excluding the recommended reading list, notes, and index that are included within the concluding pages, the book serves as an introduction to the event rather than an extensive study of the war.
Overall, although WAR OF FRONTIER AND EMPIRE may not be a definitive study, it is recommended reading for anyone who wants to become familiar with this event in history. Unless one takes a history class or visits a museum that exposes or displays the complicated issues of war and history, and in particular, the Philippine-American War, this may be another part of history that may be forgotten. Undoubtedly, for the curious historian who may want to learn more about his topic, there may need to be further research and scholarly work done about this part of American and Philippine history.
A starting point for me.......2007-08-08
I know so little about this era in the Philippines that this book gave me some acquaintance with the issues and events.
Early on I noted two items that caused me to read with skepticism. On p. 27 it says that the Queen (Lili'oukalani) of Hawaii was deposed in 1883, but as of this time she had not yet ascended to the throne. On p.17 it says that the US Civil War "devastated large areas of Pennsylvania, Virginia, Georgia and the Carolinas" and I wonder about the inclusion of Pennsylvania on such a list. I checked other Amazon reviews and saw that one poster documented a number of other problems.
This is a very readable history. I did not come away any memory of facts of dates, places, battles, names, but did get from the interesting presentation a reasonably credible framework for acquiring more knowledge about the Philippines and its history.
For the size of the book, there are a good number of very interesting photographs.
How well does the author know his subject?.......2007-07-10
I saw the author, David Silbey, on C-SPAN and I was stunned by his mispronunciations of basic terms - "TAG-uh-log" and "KAY-vite." How can you spend time researching and writing a book yet still have such gaps of knowledge? These errors made me wonder if Mr. Silbey has ever visited the Philippines or if he's ever even spoken to a Filipino. This important subject, which parallels today's headlines, deserves a more thorough, balanced treatment. For me, "Little Brown Brother" by Leon Wolff remains the best account of the era.
Somewhat Disappointed.......2007-07-08
I recently saw a televised program of David Silbey's lecture at Temple University regarding his book, "A War of Frontier and Empire." As a grandson of a soldier who fought during the Philippine Insurrection (Philippine-American War), I was most anxious to read Mr. Sibley's book. I was also interested in his book since I was a student for two years at a Philippine university where I studied Philippine history and sociology. As I listened to his interpretation of the causes of the war, I was immediately struck with his terrible mispronunciation of common Philippine words such as Tagalog, the name of the main language of the large Philippine island of Luzon, and the name of the naval base, Cavite. If a serious scholar of the Philippines cannot pronounce common names important to the history of the country, then I somewhat doubt his research. This problem is also coupled with the spelling of place names which is not consistent with normal usage.
SERIOUSLY FLAWED.......2007-07-05
Yes, the subject of the Philippine-American War has not been sufficiently treated. Yes (p.xv), "Too much of Philippine history has been ... framed from an outsider's perspective." And yes (p.219), "the literature on the Philippine-American War is not of particularly high quality, with a number of important exceptions." Regrettably, I wouldn't make this book an exception.
An associate professor of history, the author was in position to contribute some insights into the connections between the Philippine-American War and both European history and domestic American politics. If he has actually accomplished that with any skill, it is negated by the numerous errors permeating the book which cast doubt on the credibility of almost every pronouncement. Distractions caused by those errors sometimes made it difficult for me to follow analysis in the text, and I found myself wincing.
Personal and geographic names are often wrong. Sorsogon is almost
unrecognizable as Sargosan, Dagupan is Pagupan, Banaue (or Banawe) is
Banane, Cagayan is Cagayen, Mariquina (or Marikina) is Mariquini, Santo
Tomas is San Tomas, Gen. Henry Lawton is misnamed William, Gen. Mariano
Trias is Antonio, Gen. Vicente Lukban is Vincente Lukhban, Apolinario
Mabini is Apollinaro, Reynaldo (Rey) Ileto is Raymond, etc.
Strangely wrong statements abound. Guam is in the Carolines and
Batangas is a plural which appears as The Batangas. The crucial category of mestizo is overlooked in the analysis of Philippine society. Aguinaldo was said to have been in Europe in the Spring of 1898, and his family owned a plantation. Andres Bonifacio was an ilustrado, which is defined as upper-class or educated in Europe. Rizal's family members were implied to be insulares, meaning Spaniards born in the Philippines. The title of Rizal's novel Noli Me Tangere was said to be an appropriation of an American theme, an echo of the slogan "Don't mess with me" (p.12). The author may have intended a comparison with the early American snake flag Don't tread on me. However, Rizal explained that his title, from the biblical Latin meaning Touch Me Not, meant he was dealing with subjects previously taboo.
The author uncritically swallows the discredited thesis of Glenn May
that Andres Bonifacio was an invented hero, a thesis which he classifies
(p.223) as "On the Philippine side of things." The behavior of Gen. Daniel Tirona in Dec. 1899 is featured as the example of Filipino co-optation by the Americans, but the author fails to mention that Tirona was already notorious in Philippine history for his reported role in the rift of Filipino revolutionary forces, when he slanderously denounced Bonifacio at the Tejeros Conference of 1897. Then, soon after Tejeros, Tirona cravenly surrendered to the Spanish enemy. Might the author have missed that connection because of consistently misspelling Tirona as Tirono?
Two of the photos implied to show fighting in the Philippines were
probably taken in the U.S.: "Death in the ranks of the Kansans" and The
Twentieth Kansas Volunteers commanded by Frederick Funston. A photo
captioned A Spanish fort outside of Manila is actually a view of the walled city of Manila, Intramuros.
A longer review with further commentary on many dubious or debatable
declarations of the author is not merited, although I want to state my disagreement with his opinion (p. 31) that in 1898 there was a "long American tradition of noninterference in foreign affairs." The 1893 (not 1883) American overthrow of the Hawaiian government is indeed described in the book. And in just the Pacific, what about the forced trade treaties with Japan and in Indochina by battleship diplomacy, the demands for extraterritorial rights in China, the grabbing of a piece of Samoa?
4 July 2007.
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Southeast Asian
| Instruction
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Tagalog-English/English-Tagalog Standard Dictionary: Pilipino-Inggles, Inggles-Pilipino Talahuluganang (Hippocrene Standard Dictionaries)
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My First Book of Tagalog Words: Filipino Rhymes And Verses
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