Little Brown Brother: How the United States Purchased and Pacified the Philippines

by Leon Wolff

First published in 1960, Little Brown Brother won the Francis Parkman Prize from the Society of American Historians in 1962 as the book which "best combined serious historical scholarship and literary distinction." Available again, this book looks at a long history of Filipino struggle for
independence. When the Spanish-American war broke out in 1898, the Philippines--a colony of Spain for nearly four centuries--was already in revolt against colonial rule, and its fight for freedom almost won. A vivid and closely documented narrative, this book looks at Philippine resistance to
Spanish and American attempts at colonization, focusing particularly on the Philippine Insurrection in 1899 which killed 225,000 Filipinos.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Politics

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Frances Parkinson Prize winning historian who wrote Little Brown Brother, Lockout, Low Level Mission and In Flanders Fields.

Reviews

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a personal interest in this subject — my great-grandfather fought in the Philippine-American war; he enlisted from upstate New York in 1899, did his three years, and was discharged in 1902 with a record of excellent service. Before I'd ever looked him up, I never even knew that the U.S. was ever in a war with the Philippines. This isn't something even mentioned in history classes today.

Were it not for my personal interest, I don't think I would have ever picked this book up. I'm not a huge reader of non-fiction; I'm even less of a reader of history. It's just not my genre — I often find myself bored and completely uninterested, and I usually find the writing dull and dry.

So I was surprised at how well I really took to this book. Leon Wolff's writing — not only is it well-researched, wide-reaching, and comprehensive; it's utterly engaging and at times funny in its irony. Having read this book, I feel I got a real taste of the time and of the events surrounding this war and the Spanish-American war before it. I got a real sense of the characters involved, their personalities and their motivations.

All of this happened only about 30 years after the Civil War, so the feeling of the time is very, very different from today. Americans saw the Filipinos as savages, a heathen primitive people that were like half-demon and half-child; they even called them niggers. Never mind that the Philippines were the pearl of the orient, rich with trade and goods, looked on as a treasure by all. Never mind that when the Spanish-American war was fought in the Philippines, the Filipinos did most of the work while the Americans sat in their steam ships waiting in the bay. Never mind that the Tagalogs were already well versed in Christianity. They didn't think the Filipinos were capable of self-rule, even under the leadership of Emilio Aguinaldo, so they ignored much of his communication with them, ignored his requests, and ignored the will of the Filipino people.

Leon Wolff takes all the literature of the time — all the cables, all the news stories, all the political debates and speeches, the editorials, the letters, the pamphlets, everything — and he pieces them together to create this great, wide tapestry of events illustrating just what a great f*ck up this all was. It's amazing how very little we have changed as a country; the whole thing reads like the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the Vietnam war, the Korean war. The parallels are amazing, even down to Mark Twain criticizing the whole thing the way Jon Stewart would today. The Philippine-American war is the mistake we keep repeating throughout history — this great, grand hubris, this rationalization of a war abroad that makes no sense.

It makes a great story, though, and one I'd love to see as a documentary or a movie, especially this very rarely visited subject. The way Leon Wolff presents it, it's heavy with irony — you just can't help shaking your head as you read it, rolling your eyes, smacking your forehead, marveling at the ridiculousness of the whole thing, the insanity of the people back then, which actually is no different from the insanity of the people today.

I loved, loved, loved this book — me, the one who doesn't really read much non-fiction, especially history. I want to read Wolff's other books now, even though they are in completely different subjects, books about different times, different events. This book, meanwhile, will be on my keeper shelf.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional book, that stands-out among my vast collection. Very readable, not at all dry or laden down with too many dates, stats or other details. Amazing that the Philippine "war" (so-called, because the US never declared war, and thus it was an illegal, unconstitutional act) was our first exposure to being bogged-down in a quagmire-type conflict, with seemingly no end, and against infuriatingly persistent native-insurgents---a precursor to the Vietnam "war" 60 yrs later.
Both "wars" also have in common a similar policy of murdering civilians: In the Philippines, the generals ordered that any male over 13 yrs-old be killed unconditionally on sight (a result being that our US government is responsible for the murder of some 250,000 civilians); In Vietnam---the My Lai Massacre being just one known example---the US military had instituted a policy of "Kill Anything That Moves" in vast zones of territory, resulting in over 1 Million civilians killed.

[J.C. Paulk · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's dated. Normally, dated history can be fun if stuffiness can be overlooked, but this time.....ah...I just didn't feel it. The author also had racial superiority views that were more common in academia a half century ago. I did enjoy a look at daily life for a soldier at the turn of the turn of the century. It wasn't so "Be All You Can Be".

[Karsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great historical piece! So similar to events during the terms of GW Bush. Republican president sending us to war, democrats opposed and smearing the president, an American enemy (aguanaldo) hunted and hated similar to Bin Laden, Muslims putting a price on American soldiers with promises of 7 virgins in heaven for those who killed them (I guess with inflation it's now 72 virgins), Philippine nationalists labeled insurgents. So similar to 2001-2009 it's scary

[Rudy van der Hoeven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and well researched albeit I noticed a bit of a racist undertone which the author might not have realised himself. Quite amazed that the Americans who took part of this "pacification" referred to the local population as niggers, I always thought they only called their black compatriots by that name.

[Nicole]

I find it difficult to rate this book objectively, considering its subject matter. It also took me so long to read, because it wasn't often I could make myself read about white men killing, torturing, and mocking my countrymen on our own lands. The audacity and the delusions of white men (the regular man and especially those in positions of political power) are incredible and cannot be matched. It is astounding that the lives of thousands and thousands of people depended upon the words and selfishness of men who knew next to nothing about the actual situation in the Philippines, and who didn't even care to learn more, choosing to pick and choose only what would further their own ideals.

Not much has changed in the US apparently, then and now.

I had expected that I wouldn't like this book, just from the description alone. The introduction, however, written in 2005, gave me reason to think twice. According to Paul Kramer, the Philippine-American war was essentially not just forgotten but hidden, especially with the misinformation and American censorship of news coming from the Philippines at the time of the war.

It was Leon Wolff's book that dusted off the facts and brought them back into the light. This book pieces together the details through a collection of various telegram, letters, memoirs, and articles. Since it was published in 1961, it does feel dated and limited, and Wolff's access to information is definitely biased. It is mainly from the US point of view but he also references Aguinaldo's own memoir and includes what he can of the Filipinos' plans and situations.

To my surprise, I am actually grateful and surprised this book was written. His tone is ironic, occasionally mocking, and clearly critical of the Americans' methods of taking over a country who had already claimed independence. He even admits at the end that he personally believed the entire war was unnecessary and that the Filipinos were in fact already capable of self rule. Contrary to the Filipino perspective I grew up learning, it was more of a look into how the American politicians and generals mishandled the Philippines, and as I said, it is quite dated by this time, but it still did make me want to learn even more about Philippine history, as told by Filipinos.

[Derrick Rowe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Little Brown Brother is a decent work that studies the Philippine-American War, and is mostly well balanced, and comes from the New Left Wisconsin School of history. Thought decently balanced, the anti-imperialist view of the author does show through on occasion. Being knowable in the subject I did pick on some small inaccuracies, such as the claim that the Federalista Party never had much strength, and declined after its founding. That is false, that party did not have much strength at the beginning but as the war counited and as American successes mounted its sizes and strength increased, exactly opposite what Wolff claims. Additionally, there are other small inaccuracies and climes that calls into question the knowledge of the author about the subject. Over all, however, this work is a decent rendition of the war and the political actions in the US and the Philippines, though I would recommend Brian Linn and David Silbey’s books on the war over this work.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good book. I purchased it a couple of years ago as part of research I was doing on the Spanish American War. The name of the book seemed a bit derogatory, and I was not in a hurry to read it. Recently I gave it a shot. The book is a very good account of the Spanish American War in the Philippines and the Philippine Insurrection that followed. It explains the differences between what Emilio Aguinaldo claims was promised to him and what George Dewey and others thought. It goes on to describe the excesses and blunders made by both sides, and McKinley's gradual transformation from anti-imperialist to the banner of annexation.

Although first published in 1961 and republished in 2007, this award-winning book is a great read. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the Spanish American Ware or in background information related to the Philippines under American rule and during WII.

[Michael Eppelheimer · Rating 3 out of 5]

DUTY DESTINY DOLLARS DIVINITY
For all it’s dated academic racism (though also critical of the US here and of racism in general), this is an important document of a disturbingly brutal, ill-conceived war; first to liberate from Spain and then to subjugate, the Philippines. Had Taft and the protectorate plan accompanied Dewey at the outset could the former have been achieved without the latter ensuing and stave off other world powers from doing the same? We’ll never know but I assume the self-perceived superiority of the West (or Japan) wouldn’t have allowed that.

This paints a good picture of the state of America and the world at the turn of the century. It delivers the US story here but does not give us the Philippine point of view.

Recommend with the caveat that it’s not the full story by any means.

[Esther]

This book is a bit of a conundrum. Most of the events in this book took place in the Philippines, but Wolff relied on mostly American sources. This book is anti-imperialist, yet also often derogatory towards Filipinos. (Throughout, the Filipino revolutionaries are referred to as “insurgents” and the war was labeled an “insurrection.”) Yet, as stated in the introduction (written in 2005 by a different historian/author), “It was this book, Little Brown Brother, published in 1961, that would revisit this long-abandoned history, doing so from a critical perspective unlike anything that had been written before.”

I like this particular edition (Francis Parkman Prize Edition) because of Paul A. Kramer’s introduction titled, “Decolonizing the History of the Philippine-American War.” Kramer’s analysis of Wolff made this entire book worth reading.

[Not Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hardcover.

A comprehensive summary of the Philippine American war. The Philippines is given the occasional nod (particularly in the beginning) but this is mainly from the U.S. point of view. Not much analysis in this text; rather the majority is a scattering of newspaper clippings, quotes from military reports and letters, and speeches that are glued to the linear narrative of the war from the Spanish American conflict to insurrection.
There are some statements by the author that are made as fact but are actually grey. An example would be the U.S. deserter turned rebel for the Filipinos, David Fagan. David was said to have been beheaded in this book--almost passed off like its no big deal really--when there others who dispute the claim. He was never found.

[David Bradshaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

First in our overseas commercial empire

[Pelaut · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this book back in 1968 when I was living in Manila.
I just bought a new copy and read it a second time.
It is interesting to note that torture, killing of prisoners, looting, massacres of civilians
and shooting up of wedding parties etc. is an old tradition in the USAF...
A well written, detailed account of the US invasion of the Philippines.

There is a similar book on the same subject, namely "Philippine-American War, 1899-1902"
written by the Filipino historian Arnaldo Dumindin. This book can be found on the net.
The book has got a lot of interesting old photos.

[Rob Mcke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I particularly like the story of Ferdrick Funston played a key role in planning and executing the capture of Filipino President Emilio Aguinaldo, it's boys own stuff but at the time was seen as unfair.

[Craig Bolton]

"Little Brown Brother (HOW THE UNITED STATES PURCHASED AND PACIFIED THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS AT THE CENTURY'S TURN, FRANCIS PARKMAN PRIZE EDITION) by Leon Wolff (2006)"

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the end of the Spanish-American War, the US gained control of the Philippines. This work discusses how America went about governing the Philippines and the treatment of the natives.

[Homer H Blass]

Interesting background to Spanish American War. Dated but well written with lots of bon mots.