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

"The Philippine War" should be considered, in the good way, a major revisionist work that analyzes, critiques and corrects faulty history of the US's war against Philippine independence movement after the Spanish American War. As a military work, it is an excellent, detailed account of conventional military action. Battles, skirmishes, tables or organizations and tactics are well described, and add to our understanding of the state of US armed forces at the time.Contemporary news reports and popular accounts are accounted for and corrected through detailed study and primary sources. Linn correctly describes the rather nebulous nature of "Philippine" national identity and the internal political divisions that preceded the US's arrival. He also discusses, too brief in my opinion, the US domestic scene and debate of the US's potential imperial role.Nevertheless, Linn fails to consider the full context of the Philippine War. This is a highly detailed conventional military account, but much of the effects of the war are completely ignored. Counter-insurgency defined the US's role, but in many ways comes up short by the focus on military tactics rather than the deeper implications or results. Virtually nothing from the Philippine perspective is in here, except from contemporaneous accounts.I didn't expect him to delve into the social effects of the war, but he is quick to dismiss the irregular warfare that went on, to consider it simply part of the culture of the time and then cast aside. Brutality in warfare and race-based attitudes were part of the culture, but little is gleaned from this except the assumption that it was necessary and successful. That latter point gets no counterpoint or consideration.Towards the end of the book he points to a big gaping hole by explaining, "The campaign in the Department of Southern Luzon, which began so promisingly with the invasion of January 1900, ended in appalling devastation and controversy seventeen months later." That elision negates this from getting 5 stars.

I grew up in the Philippines where history was taught using Teodoro Agoncillo's "History of the Filipino People," which gave an incomplete and biased account of the conflict. It pushed the narrative that Aguinaldo's revolutionary government lost the war because of American superiority in arms and traitorious Filipinos within the government and the military. Linn's book demolishes this narrative by going into great detail the military campaigns and battles in the Philippines not discussed in Agoncillo's book and showing that the Filipinos, despite having tremendous numerical superiority over the US forces, had extremely poor leadership in and out of the battlefield, which was the real reason why the US ultimately won there.

The Philippine Insurrection should be remembered as America's most remarkable war. With virtually no counter insurgency doctrine, no knowledge of the Philippine Islands, no training in COIN and against a ideologically prepared and well entrenched foe the US military managed to make all or almost all the right moves. It makes one wonder if the main result of training for war is to prevent innovation when it is called for.One of the interesting aspects of this war was it's limited scope. Most of the Philippines were quiet during most of the war. After understanding that a modern reader may look at Afghanistan or Iraq and wonder at how much is not happening.One problem I had with the book is that there was no adequate summation dealing with the cost of the war. No final casualties figures were presented (if memory serves). It would have been nice if the memory of the men who fought there received more recognition than they have, after all they did preform a military miracle for this country.I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in counter insurgency.

Along with the Malayan Emergency, the Philippine war is the most often cited successful counter insurgencies. Again like the Malayan Emergency there is little written on this war and even less that can be called sound scholarly work. Dr. Linn is the exception and has written a detailed, well documented and easily accessible book.Dr. Linn breaks down all the major players on both sides of this conflict and traces them through the war. He breaks down the strategies and tactics that all the different factions. He also shows his research skills by showing what the tactics the U.S. Army actually employed and that there has been an over inflation of atrocities that were committed.This is good book for someone interested in the war, and it is an excellent resource for the student doing research. Either way the book is a must have for one's own personnel library.

A well balanced study in an oft missrepresented war showing both sides of the war. Note: The Philippines are who they are today as a direct positive result of this war. This book has many modern applications in what it will take to win an insurgent war today. You often feel like you are reading today's news complete with an opponent who seeks to effect an American election by American military casualties. We didn't fall for it in 1900. This book takes you by island by island, challenges, defeats and victorys. A positive read. Informative. It is not a page turner which is why only four stars. But if you have a space on your shelf for this time in American military history about a successful strategy, this is your book. God Bless America and God Bless you.

A very interesting book on a much debated topic among some people. It handles it fairly on both sides, and points out realities that affected the situation. It does not give much information on the purely military aspects such as unit organization and order of battle in the normal sense, some of that type of information is available if one searches for it. What it does do is give details of the situation on both sides politically, which is quite interesting.

very informative