History of the Philippines

This is one of the earliest American scholarly attempts to write a comprehensive history of the Philippines, composed during the tumultuous years immediately following the Spanish-American War. Anthropologist David Prescott Barrows drew on his fieldwork among the islands' indigenous peoples to craft a history that moved beyond mere political chronology. He placed the Philippine experience within the broader currents of European colonization and American expansion, creating a text that attempted to bridge two worlds. Written specifically for Filipino readers, the book carries a peculiar tension: an American outsider's view of Philippine history aimed at a newly independent nation processing its colonial past. The work remains a fascinating period document, revealing both the possibilities and limitations of early American scholarship on Southeast Asia.