Rating: 
Summary: Excellent history of the Philippines
Review: Most books on the Philippines are about American experiences there, mainly in World War II.
This is a well written, easily read history of that fascinating country.
It not only gives the history, but informs on the culture of the Philippines, and explains history that otherwise might be invisible or hard to understand. (For example, how Chinese immigrants influenced the richest families, the love/hate relationship of Filippinos with the USA, the reason why some Filippino politicians sided with Japan, etc.).
If you have to read just one book on this fascinating country, this is the one to read.
Rating:
Summary: Well worth the reading.
Review: Others have already written extensive reviews of the contents of this book, all pretty much agreeing on the details. I wanted to add my voice to the chorus to say only that the book is well worth the reading for anyone planning on having anything whatsoever to do with the Philippines, and reading even only a chapter or two will help the average person come away with a much greater understanding of what the Philippines is all about today and how it got where it is. I would highly recommend starting at two places many casual readers usually skip - the preface and introduction - as the points laid out therein give a great overview of the final conclusions of the book, which the rest of the chapters then explain in greater detail. Highly valuable for both business and government employees about to enter the Philippines for the first - or hundreth - time, and should be required reading for all military personnel about to embark to this region of the world. I personnaly read this book after having already visited the country nine times, and yet gained a wealth of knowledge and insight that I would never have found otherwise. Well worth the read.
Rating:
Summary: Well worth the reading.
Review: Others have already written extensive reviews of the contents of this book, all pretty much agreeing on the details. I wanted to add my voice to the chorus to say only that the book is well worth the reading for anyone planning on having anything whatsoever to do with the Philippines, and reading even only a chapter or two will help the average person come away with a much greater understanding of what the Philippines is all about today and how it got where it is. I would highly recommend starting at two places many casual readers usually skip - the preface and introduction - as the points laid out therein give a great overview of the final conclusions of the book, which the rest of the chapters then explain in greater detail. Highly valuable for both business and government employees about to enter the Philippines for the first - or hundreth - time, and should be required reading for all military personnel about to embark to this region of the world. I personnaly read this book after having already visited the country nine times, and yet gained a wealth of knowledge and insight that I would never have found otherwise. Well worth the read.
Rating:
Summary: First Rate Historical Writing
Review: Stanley Karnow's "In Our Image" does exactly what it purports to do in the subtitle. It is a very complete political history of U.S. involvement in the Phillippines and how American influence has shaped that country. It is, in fact, as much a history of the United States during the same period, giving detailed portraits of important figures like William Howard Taft, who was the first civilian governor of the Phillippines after America won the colony from Spain in the Spanish American War, and who considered the islands to his personal political domain, even after he became President in 1909. Another American who looms large is, of course, General Douglas MacArthur, whose father Arthur fought during the little remembered Phillippine insurrection against American rule at the turn of the last century and who became an icon to the Phillippine people despite his serious personality flaws. Karnow begins the book with an overview of Phillippine history under Spanish rule that sets the stage quite well. He then describes America's conquest and subsequent torment as it found itself bogged down in a jungle guerilla war quagmire that unfortunately portended the Vietnam War six and a half decades later. Over 100,000 Phillippinos and 4,000 American soldiers died in one of the bloodiest colonial wars ever. Once the islands were finally subdued, however, America became the most benevolent of all colonial powers, granting the Phillippines unprecedented autonomy and zealously undertaking to educate its people and improve its infastructure. After World War Two, the U.S. became the first colonial power to voluntarily relenquish a colony, granting the Phillippnes full independence with a minimum of fuss. Overall, Karnow's book is a very throroughly researched and highly readable account. It is also very well balanced, and describes America's colonial experience fairly. One comes away from the book conflicted about whether the America's colonial rule in the Phillippines was ultimately a good thing or a bad thing. Certainly, there are plenty of arguments on both sides.
Rating:
Summary: First Rate Historical Writing
Review: Stanley Karnow's "In Our Image" does exactly what it purports to do in the subtitle. It is a very complete political history of U.S. involvement in the Phillippines and how American influence has shaped that country. It is, in fact, as much a history of the United States during the same period, giving detailed portraits of important figures like William Howard Taft, who was the first civilian governor of the Phillippines after America won the colony from Spain in the Spanish American War, and who considered the islands to his personal political domain, even after he became President in 1909. Another American who looms large is, of course, General Douglas MacArthur, whose father Arthur fought during the little remembered Phillippine insurrection against American rule at the turn of the last century and who became an icon to the Phillippine people despite his serious personality flaws. Karnow begins the book with an overview of Phillippine history under Spanish rule that sets the stage quite well. He then describes America's conquest and subsequent torment as it found itself bogged down in a jungle guerilla war quagmire that unfortunately portended the Vietnam War six and a half decades later. Over 100,000 Phillippinos and 4,000 American soldiers died in one of the bloodiest colonial wars ever. Once the islands were finally subdued, however, America became the most benevolent of all colonial powers, granting the Phillippines unprecedented autonomy and zealously undertaking to educate its people and improve its infastructure. After World War Two, the U.S. became the first colonial power to voluntarily relenquish a colony, granting the Phillippnes full independence with a minimum of fuss. Overall, Karnow's book is a very throroughly researched and highly readable account. It is also very well balanced, and describes America's colonial experience fairly. One comes away from the book conflicted about whether the America's colonial rule in the Phillippines was ultimately a good thing or a bad thing. Certainly, there are plenty of arguments on both sides.
Rating:
Summary: Fillipinos have their own history
Review: The average American knows little about the Philippines except for occasional news stories about tradgedies, and most Americans have visited this lovely country only as members of the armed services. However, Philippino history is more complicated and diverse than one would think from such contact. Stanley Karnow's book is a good introduction to the history and politics of this fascinating country, and his insight into the way the culture works, including the importance of family connections, is a good introduction to anyone who intends to visit this country and to understand it's ways and its people
Rating: 
Summary: Karnow produces classic work on Philippine-US relations
Review: The main complaint I have about this work is that it was for too long out of print or hard to find (a failing now apparently remedied). That's good, because Karnow has produced one of the definitive works on Philippine-US relations -- and one that I will use for classes I teach on the subject. While Karnow has been called a "nostalgic colonialist" for his sometimes slightly "White Man's Burden" view of Philippine history as, roughly, "better under the Americans than the Spanish," his criticism of turn-of-the-century American jingoism and broken promises to the Philippines redeems him in my eyes. All in all, a thorough, well-told tale of a too-invisible chapter in American history.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Read
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Somewhat lacking
Review: While this book does offer a balanced view of America's role in the Phillipines, I found this book somewhat lacking, particularly during the Marcos era.
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