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About the author
DAMON L. WOODS grew up in Baguio City. After receiving his PhD in Southeast Asian History from the University of California, Los Angeles, he has been a lecturer at UCLA, the University of California, Irvine, and California State University, Long Beach, and has lectured at Universiti Brunei Darussalam and the University of the Philippines, Baguio. He is currently a visiting professor at the Center for International Studies at the University of the Philippines, Diliman. Among the courses he has taught are Philippine History and Philippine Radical Tradition.
Summary
Written with high school and undergraduate students as the target audience, this volume is ideal for anyone interested in Philippine history. It pieces together evidence from the precolonial era, illustrating the country’s relationship with its neighboring Asian countries, its functioning social system, its widespread literacy, and developed system of writing. Its discussion of the precolonial era acknowledges the significant role women played in Philippine society, one that changed significantly with the coming of the friars. Its summary of over 350 years of colonial rule by Spain and almost 50 years by the United States helps the reader to understand why the Philippines is uniquely different from its Asian neighbors. It illustrates how Filipinos responded to colonialization, their active participation in the making of the nation and the shaping of Philippine society, and most importantly, the courage and resiliency of the Filipino people.
