A Brief History of the Philippines

A U. S. Marine stationed at Zamboanga in the Philippines has time to spend and writes a short history of the Philippines with a special emphasis on the Muslims. He covers from prehistoric times and the migrations that settled the islands up to the present time. He describes the early Islamic explorers and settlers and the discovery by Magellan who claimed the islands for King Philip of Spain and named the islands after him. Spanish and Muslim occupations, then American and then Japanese. None of them were angels. In the midst of all that, the Filipino people were oppressed and fighting for hundreds of years. There is a large part of this book dedicated to describing the Muslim terrorism and attempts at separatism from the National government.