The Philippine War, 1899-1902
Brian McAllister Linn
New in Paperback: October 2002
xiv, 428 pages, 21 photographs, 9 maps, 6 x 9
Modern War Studies
Paper ISBN 978-0-7006-1225-3, $19.95 (t)
WINNER OF THE SOCIETY FOR MILITARY HISTORY DISTINGUISHED BOOK
AWARD
SELECTION OF THE HISTORY BOOK CLUB
1999 began the centennial of the Philippine War, one of
the most controversial and poorly understood events in American
history. The war thrust the U.S. into the center of Pacific and
Asian politics, with important and sometimes tragic consequences.
It kept the Filipinos under colonial overlordship for another five
decades and subjected them to American political, cultural, and
economic domination.
In the first comprehensive study in over six decades, Linn
provides a definitive treatment of military operations in the
Philippines. From the pitched battles of the early war to the
final campaigns against guerrillas, Linn traces the entire course
of the conflict. More than an overview of Filipino resistance
and American pacification, this is a detailed study of the fighting
in the "boondocks."
In addition to presenting a detailed military history of the
war, Linn challenges previous interpretations. Rather than being
a clash of armies or societies, the war was a series of regional
struggles that differed greatly from island to island. By shifting
away from the narrow focus on one or two provinces to encompass
the entire archipelago, Linn offers a more thorough understanding
of the entire war.
Linn also dispels many of the misunderstandings and historical
inaccuracies surrounding the Philippine War. He repudiates the
commonly held view of American soldiers "civilizing with
a Krag" and clarifies such controversial incidents as the
Balangiga Massacre and the Waller Affair.
Exhaustively researched and engagingly written, The Philippine
War will become the standard reference on America's forgotten
conflict and a major contribution to the study of guerrilla warfare.
The definitive study of this often misunderstood war.Parameters
A thoughtful, deeply researched, and well-written work
about a war that teaches much about the nature of revolutionary
warfareeven today.Foreign Affairs
A well-written volume that enhances Linns position
as the leading authority on Americas military presence in
the Pacific before Pearl Harbor.Publishers Weekly
Belongs on the shelf of any serious student of U.S.Asian
relations, especially if one wants to understand the projection
of American military power across the Pacific.Journal
of Military History
An objective, well-researched, and engaging book that challenges
earlier one-dimensional views. Destined to become the standard
text for understanding this forgotten war.History:
Reviews of New Books
Well-grounded in original documents, including the letters
and diaries of soldiers from both sides, this is the most important
book so far on one of the most controversial of Americas
wars.New York Military Affairs Symposium Newsletter
Will appeal to serious military historians and military
professionals, as well as to the general reader.Robert
A. Doughty in the History Book Club News
"Brian Linn, who has the rare ability to craft a readable
text without abandoning the scholar's penchant for accuracy, has
written another fine book. Meticulously researched and impressively
documented, his study draws upon the literature from all sides
of a number of controversies. The result is a book of unusual
balance, making Linn's accomplishment without equal among the
many works on the war."--John M. Gates, author of
Schoolbooks and Krags: The United States Army in the Philippines,
1898-1902
"An impressively researched and well written narrative
history that brings reasoned analysis to topics previously fraught
with partisanship and polemics."--Timothy K. Nenninger,
author of The Leavenworth Schools and the Old Army, 1881-1918
BRIAN McALLISTER LINN is professor of history at Texas A&M
University and the Harold K. Johnson Visiting Professor of Military
History at the U.S. Army War College. He is the author of The
U.S. Army and Counterinsurgency in the Philippine War, 1899-1902
and Guardians of Empire: The U.S. Army and the Pacific, 1902-1940,
winner of the 1997 Society for Military History Distinguished Book
Award.
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