Bound by War: How the United States and the Philippines Built America's First Pacific Century

Christopher Capozzola, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Ever since US troops occupied the Philippines in 1898, generations of Filipinos have served in and alongside the US armed forces.

Historian Christopher Capozzola reveals this forgotten history, showing how war and military service forged an enduring, yet fraught, alliance between Americans and Filipinos. As the US military expanded in Asia, American forces confronted their Pacific rivals from Philippine bases and Filipinos became crucial partners in the exercise of US power. Their service reshaped Philippine society and politics and brought hundreds of thousands of Filipino immigrants to America, including World War II veterans who fought a decades-long battle to win equitable rights to citizenship and veterans benefits. Drawing on research across the U.S. and Asia, Bound by War tells the epic story of the U.S. and the Philippines through the wars the two nations fought together.