"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 warfare--even today."
--Foreign Affairs
"A well-written volume that enhances Linn's position as the leading authority on America's 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 America's 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
Submitted By Publisher, November, 2002
Summary
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.
