The Philippine War, 1899-1902 (Modern War Studies (Paperback))

Rating:
Summary: The apologist/centrist view from the West
Review: Although Linn and supporters of this view (including elitists such as the editors of the Council on Foreign Relations' Foreign Affairs)consider the deliberate provocations and genocidal fury of the United States, exhaustively detailed by Stuart C. Miller and other critics of the war, to be a "myth". This is an outrageous assertion, that Linn fails to support, while attempting to quietly paper over the history and repair the reputations of the Americans who killed a military disadvantaged opposition with brutality. Linn brushes off the butchery of Samar as no more than "harsh", while pushing the idea that Filipinos actually welcomed the US. Linn's bias in support of "benevolent assimilation" is clear. This dry blow by blow of military operations does not go into the much more important decision making at the all-important policy and geostrategy level.

Rating:
Summary: A Top-Notch Scholarly Work
Review: Continuing the fine University Press of Kansas's Modern War Studies series, Brian Linn magnificently illustrates both the difficulties and the triumphs of American arms in the Philippines in the immediate aftermath of the Spanish-American War. Using both American and Philippine sources, Linn shows how the US Army, vastly outnumbered, dependent upon ill-prepared volunteers, and constantly weakened by tropical disease, managed to defeat a fractured nationalist opposition, nominally led by Emilio Aguinaldo. Far from being a foregone conclusion, the war very well could have gone differently had Aguinaldo been able to unite a widely diverse native population. Many ethnic groups refused let the elitist Tagalogs in Luzon dictate the terms of Philippine independence, however. Linn also dismantles the commonly held view that American forces won the war by brutalizing the population. In other words, American policy in the archipelago was much more sophisticated than "civilizing the natives with a Krag." Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Fails to Cover All Events
Review: I bought the book because I was interested in the battle of Malabon. Specifically, to get a history of the 71st Company, Coast Artillery Corps and the 3rd U.S. Infantry involvement. The battle for Malabon is not mentioned in the book even though companies of the 2nd Oregon Volunteer Infantry and the 1st Washington Volunteer Infantry were engaged on 25 March 1899. There is no mention in the book about the C.A.C. and just two brief entries about the 3rd Infantry. A definite waste of my money.

Rating:
Summary: Fails to Cover All Events
Review: I bought the book because I was interested in the battle of Malabon. Specifically, to get a history of the 71st Company, Coast Artillery Corps and the 3rd U.S. Infantry involvement. The battle for Malabon is not mentioned in the book even though companies of the 2nd Oregon Volunteer Infantry and the 1st Washington Volunteer Infantry were engaged on 25 March 1899. There is no mention in the book about the C.A.C. and just two brief entries about the 3rd Infantry. A definite waste of my money.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Read of the Philippine Insurrection
Review: It is evident that the author spent a great deal of time researching, cataloguing and organizing this tale of the Philippine and American conflicts that occurred in the Philippine Islands, resulting from the Spanish American War. Probably no other text, has succinctly described an often confusing dilemma which existed between the Filipinos, who were fighting for their independence, and the Americans who were fighting to quell the rebellion as their benevolent benefactor. The book more than adequately covers the phases of the conflicts which occurred throughout the islands. The initial phase of conflict was the Filipino frontal assaults in and around Manila. Failing to achieve lasting victories, their frontal assault strategy gradually evolved into guerilla warfare; a harbinger, many years later, of what America would face in Vietnam. To adequately understand the locations and occurrences, the reader needs to purchase a medium scaled map of the Philippines. The book lacks maps and graphics which adequately give the reader a visual image of where the conflicts happened. In about a half dozen, or more, instances, the author has a problem with describing accurately locational directions. For example, he states that a place is west of another place when in reality it is definitely east of that place. This problem becomes minor when considering the amount of information the author relates to the reader. An excellent read for anyone having an interest in Philippine History.

Rating:
Summary: Good, could have been great
Review: The author definately shows a mastery of his subject and has written a well-researched, well written account of the war. He goes into great detail on "benevolent assimilation", talks in detail of the respective commanders, and shows a certain expertise in the aspects of guerrilla warfare. This is one of the most authoritative accounts of the Philippine insurrection you can find.

There is one greivance I have with the author's work. The maps. They are, simply, atrocious, and for a military work of this kind they significantly detract from the overall presentation. Many of the fights in the beginning of the book are generally conventional, and the standard US doctrine was a frontal attack in a skirmish line, coupled with flanking efforts, usually against a Filipino defense in dug-in positions. There are no tactical or operational maps that depict the relevant maneuvers. Given that most readers are not familiar with rural Filipino towns this is a significant failing. Eventually the reader must focus on the generalities and campaign level issues because the tactical fights are hard to understand.

The author provides maps of the provinces, on occaision. Rather then provide a simple bar scale, he, for example, provides a a 4 by 4 inch map (p 141)with a scale that reads "1:2,027,520". For the amount of time he spent on this work the poor cartography is a significant fault. One that I hope is reworked in a later issue.



Rating:
Summary: A Balanced and Fair Book
Review: This book just was selected to the Army Chief of Staff's Reading List and has won numerous prizes. It is THE book on the subject and the only thorougly researched history of this war. Linn provides a detailed account of the big-battle operations of 1899 and then looks at the guerrilla war in the various islands. There is a detailed and fair analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of American and guerrilla forces--and the notes show Linn did research in both American and Filipino sources. This book has a lot to teach about our current military situtation, which may be why troops in Iraq are reading it.

Rating:
Summary: The American War
Review: Whether the US won the Philippine war due to tactical expertise or due to the Filipino leaders' internal factions is up to debate; as much as the notion that it is America's moral responsibility to make the conquest in the first place. The Philippines, Vietnam, the Gulf War and the smaller, intermittent wars will always be in America's conscience not so much due to the fact that they happened at all than to the self-imposed dissection of America's moral everytime they happen.

As its initial attempt to being a colonizer, the Philippine War could have warned the US to its other, later exercises of might. Was it benevolence assimilation or misguided principles? McAllister Linn may not have provided an answer but this is history writing at its best - sans sentiments and judgement. But if the saying that history is always written from the point of view of the victors, the book can forcefully argue that America has lost a (moral) victory on this war.