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Honor In The Dust: Theodore Roosevelt, War In The Philippines, And The Rise And Fall Of America's Imperial Dream (2012)

by Gregg Jones(Favorite Author)

3.87 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0451229045 (ISBN13: 9780451229045)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

NAL Hardcover

review 1: Another interesting book on the little-told history of America's first years of colonizing the Philippines. Told mainly from the American point of view, the book does not shy away from some of the not-so noble aspects of its efforts to "benevolently assimilate" the archipelago in the beginning of the 20th century. Realizing the potential strategic importance of the islands in the years to come, America spared little in trying to convert the Philippines and its people to what they considered a "civilized" society. This included the gruelling and often brutal suppression of the independence movement headed by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo. While the powers-that-be in Washington may have had idealistic reasons to colonize the islands, the method by which they tried to do so left much... more to be desired. Ranging from torturing suspected rebel leaders and sympathizers by the "water cure" or by wiping out entire villages to flush out insurgents served to galvanize the Filipinos resolve to gain their independence. But as events unfolded , a shortage of arms by the locals and the abundance of resources by America eventually quashed any chance of achieving early independence and the rest, as they say, is history. Gregg has given us an unabashed snapshot of the belligerent nature of the early relationship between the United States and the Philippines which is amazing considering how it eventually developed into something much better in the years after, especially during the Second World War. Any student of Philippine-American history should read this book to gain a better understanding of our rollercoaster relationship with America.
review 2: Great book on the U.S. war on the people of the Philippines. I appreciate the stories of the ordinary people involved as well as the still-famous war criminals like Theodore Roosevelt. It was easy to read but detailed, a rare feat. It is a amazing that in a democracy a small group of men could decide to grab an entire country and then bully everyone else into accepting and even glorifying what was clearly wrong.My only critique is that Gregg Jones apparently did not have access to Conspiracy for Empire by Luzviminda Francisco and Jonathan Shepard Fast, which covers much of the same material but highlights the role of the Sugar Trust in pushing for a war with Spain and seizing the sugar producing islands of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. That book had only a small print run in the Philippines and is hard to obtain.If you only read one history book this year, this is the one to read. Change a few characters and fast forward a century and it could be about Afghanistan.Also, I had never put together that the first U.S. invasion of China happened at the same time the Philippine Independence Movement was being annihilated, by many of the same troops. Bet you did not know there was a first U.S. invasion of China. less

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