What is striking about Honor in the Dust, Gregg Jones's fascinating new book about the Philippine-American War, is not how much war has changed in more than a century, but how little. On nearly every page, there is a scene that feels as if it could have taken place during the Bush and Obama administrations rather than those of McKinley and Roosevelt…Jones, who was once a correspondent in Manila…has a thorough understanding of the Philippines. But it is on the United States that Honor in the Dust casts the brightest, and at times harshest, light.
—The New York Times Book Review
Fascinating… In the end, Honor in the Dust is less about the freedom of the Philippines than the soul of the United States. This is the story of what happened when a powerful young country and its zealous young president were forced to face the high cost of their ambitions.”—Candice Millard, New York Times Book Review
“A deeply researched, well-written addition to the crowded shelves of books about the Spanish-American War and the William McKinley-Theodore Roosevelt era in international affairs. Honor in the Dust combines a fast-moving narrative of the military campaigns in Cuba and the Philippines with an examination of the political disputes behind American actions.”—The Boston Globe
“[Honor in the Dust] should attract a wide general readership among those interested in U.S. military history, U.S. foreign policy, and international law…. Highly recommended.”—Library Journal
“Extraordinary… Honor in the Dust is a work of monumental consequence, and its important historical lessons, though they've been frequently unheeded by subsequent administrations, are in any case most worthy of remembrance.”—The Christian Science Monitor
“A ripping read—facts and context interspersed with the smells and sounds of jungle warfare.”—The American Spectator
“History teaches us how to act, or how to not act as the case may be. Honor in the Dust is both good history and good teaching...Contributes significantly to an ignored and marginalized period of American history...concise and compelling.”—Marine Corps Gazette
“Honor in the Dust is a dramatic page-turner, told with marvelous reporting, crackling writing, and original insights. Gregg Jones presents a fascinating cast of characters and gripping battle scenes in a story that moves with the speed and power of a battleship. Utterly absorbing.”—Jonathan Eig, New York Times Bestselling Author of Get Capone
“America's brutal war of conquest in the Philippines is amazingly little-known, largely ignored in our schoolbooks and history museums. Yet its imperial hubris and its torture scandal eerily foreshadow events of the last decade. In his much-needed, highly readable book on this forgotten war, Gregg Jones has written both a compelling page-turner and a work of careful scholarship.”—Adam Hochschild, National Book Award Finalist and Author of King Leopold's Ghost andTo End All Wars
“Gregg Jones has produced a masterful and fast-paced book. Honor in the Dust may be classified as a work of history, but it reads like a thriller. Jones wisely stays focused and does not project events immediately following 1898 into the future, but the reader does. Foreshadowed are the wars in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan-and on. This book is the vital prequel to understanding the state of American empire today.”—Dale Maharidge, Pulitzer Prize-winning Author ofBringing Mulligan Home
“Honor in the Dust is an absolutely riveting page-turner, a terrific read. Gregg Jones resurrects a long forgotten, but very important slice of American history, in which the country's imperialistic dreams clashed with its sense of honor and justice, severely testing Theodore Roosevelt's young presidency and forcing Americans to confront the horrors of war. Anyone interested in how America uses and abuses its power during times of war should read this book.”—Eric Jay Dolin, Author of Leviathan
“The Philippines Occupation was the first of the United States' quagmires, yet its lessons have been willfully ignored by later generations. Honor in the Dust recovers this essential history, the bombast of Washington's jingoism to the terror of the lost patrol in Samar. Gregg Jones does an admirable job of bringing this extraordinary period and its remarkable characters to life.”—Anne Nelson, Author of Savages
Journalist Jones debuts with this book on TR's darker side. Teddy Roosevelt was a colorful figure of many accomplishments, but most historians today doubt he deserves his place on Mount Rushmore. At best he was a near-great, owing to his penchant for colonialism. Jones covers TR's insistence, as assistant secretary of the navy, on the Spanish-American War of 1898 against the initial inclination of President William McKinley; TR's military glory in Cuba; and—primarily—America's war in the Philippines from 1899 to 1902. With TR's full support, the United States went from backing Filipino revolutionaries against Spain to itself fighting the revolutionaries and covering up military atrocities. TR and colleagues outmaneuvered Mark Twain's Anti-Imperialist League and the Democratic Party. One of the few genuine military heroes was George B. Davis, the army judge advocate general, who candidly recognized the military's use of torture but could not stop it. VERDICT Though this work does not break new ground for scholars, it should attract a wide general readership among those interested in U.S. military history, U.S. foreign policy, and international law. It helps to explain the advent of Fidel Castro and other leaders in reaction to colonialism and foreshadows America's hubris in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Highly recommended.—William D. Pederson, Louisiana State Univ., Shreveport
A journalist provides a balanced look at America's bloody effort to annex the Philippines in the early 20th century. Former Dallas Morning News correspondent Jones (Red Revolution: Inside the Philippine Guerrilla Movement, 1989) gives both sides to the issues and their adherents--though he begins with a graphic description of American soldiers administering water torture to a Filipino captive (the issue of military misconduct recurs repeatedly). Jones swiftly summarizes the war with Spain that gave birth to the events in the Philippines, paying careful attention to rising star Theodore Roosevelt and his exploits with the Rough Riders. We see President William McKinley as something of a ditherer; he was reluctant to make decisions that he knew would cost lives. Once Spain agreed to surrender their sway in the Philippines, the Americans snatched the chance for expansion. President Roosevelt was no ditherer. The Filipinos, initially grateful, quickly realized that they were not going to retain sovereignty, and an insurgency swelled. Soon thousands of American military personnel flooded the islands, and the action turned brutal, sanguinary and punitive. Torture, executions, destruction of private property and the burning of entire villages--all were done by the U.S. in the cause of victory. Jones describes the incidents, chronicles the reactions back home (Mark Twain and Andrew Carnegie were passionately opposed to U. S. involvement) and charts the flight of the political football as Republicans and Democrats fought to control the public perception of events. One major result was the elevated status of the Marines, whose days had seemed numbered beforehand. A well-researched, generally disinterested account whose parallels to today are obvious.
