14 Must-Read Books on Philippine History
Whether you're a history buff or simply curious about the country's past, there are several essential reads that can provide you with a comprehensive understanding of Philippine history. From renowned historians to insightful cultural observers, each author offers a unique lens into the Philippines' rich history. In this post, we will explore some of the most notable books on the subject.
A quick glance
- Looking Back by Ambeth Ocampo
- Rizal without the Overcoat by Ambeth Ocampo
- History of the Filipino People by Teodoro Agoncillo
- Culture and History by Nick Joaquin
- A Question of Heroes by Nick Joaquin
- An Anarchy of Families by Alfred McCoy
- History of the Burgis by Mariel Francisco and Fe Maria Arriola
- Conjugal Dictatorship by Primitivo Mijares
- Boxer Codex by Isaac Donoso, Ma. Luisa Garcia, Carlos Quirino, and Mauro Garcia
- Barangay by William Henry Scott
- Looking for the Pre-Hispanic Filipino by William Henry Scott
- In Our Image by Stanley Karnow
- State and Society by Patricio Abinales
- History of the Philippines by Luis Francia
These must-reads will take you on a time-traveling journey, unveiling the captivating history of the Philippines. Whether you're a history buff or just starting out, these books are bound to amaze and enlighten. Happy reading!
Best Books on Philippine History
Looking Back Series (Volumes 1-12)
This twelve-volume Looking Back set includes essays filled with controversy, curiosity, and insight covering Philippine history and culture. It is ...
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Rizal without the Overcoat by Ambeth Ocampo
This book is a collection of essays from Ambeth R. Ocampo’s newspaper column “Looking Back” that began in the Philippine Daily Globe and later move...
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History of the Filipino People (8th Edition) by Teodoro A. Agoncillo
"Agoncillo is no believer in objectivity—at least not in the way names-and-dates historians define the term. He is refreshingly opinionated in a pr...
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Culture and History
Who is the Filipino? What makes him so? National Artist for Literature Nick Joaquin answers these questions in Culture and History, a groundbreakin...
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A Question of Heroes by Nick Joaquin
Through his critical essays on ten key figures in Philippine history, Nick Joaquin provides a fresh point of view on Philippine heroes and their ro...
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An Anarchy of Families: State and Family in the Philippines
Winner of the National Book Award for Social Sciences, this pioneering volume reveals how the power of the country's family-based oligarchy both de...
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History of the Burgis by Mariel N. Francisco and Fe Maria C. Arriola
An excerpt from How To Read This Book:
Think of it as a bus tour through five hundred years of Philippine history. Our tour guide is a dedicated a...
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The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos by Primitivo Mijares
This book reports on the best laid plans that paved the way to the Philippines dark history: the imposition of martial law in 1972 and the schemes ...
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Boxer Codex
In 1947, Colonial Iberian Scholar Professor Charles R. Boxer acquired a late sixteenth-century manuscript written by an anonymous scribe who had co...
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Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine Culture and Society by William Henry Scott
From the Introduction: This book presents a sixteenth-century Philippine ethnography based on contemporaneous sources. It does not attempt to recon...
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Looking for the Prehispanic Filipino (Revised Edition) by William Henry Scott
For 25 years, William Henry Scott rebuilt the 16th-century Philippine culture by careful scrutiny of contemporary documents. In an earlier work, Cr...
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In Our Image: America's Empire in the Philippines by Stanley Karnow
A sweeping account of the United States’ colonial and post-colonial relationship with the Philippines, tracing over a century of political, cultura...
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State and Society in the Philippines
State and Society in the Philippines engages the dilemma of state-society relations through a historical treatment of state formation and the corre...
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A History of the Philippines: From Indios Bravos to Filipinos
The Philippines is a nation in its adolescence, struggling by fits and starts to emerge from a rich, complicated, and multilayered past. From ancie...
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