THE GOOD FIGHT

by Manuel Luis Quezon ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

I've listed this as a ""dark horse"" simply because I hesitate to predict the sales value of the name of the gallant late president of The Philippines. Quezon's death, long expected, came tragically close to the date of fulfillment of his dream, reoccupation of his homeland by American and Filipino troops. Three chapters in his autobiography have been put into final form by close associates. But he is, perhaps, the one Filipino who is identified with the span of his country's history in the slow upward climb to independence. His story starts -- with brief backward glance -- at the time of the Spanish-American war and the subsequent insurrection within the islands themselves, part civil war, part rebellion against the failure of the new master to make good a promise, part guerilla warfare. Quezon's father was a nationalist rebel; his son carried on the struggle, interrupting a hard-earned education to do so. But at length rebellion was quelled, and the islands settled into a program of preparation for independence under American tutelage. Quezon shows it for the most part as constructive, benevolent, at times inspired. He was a prominent figure in law and politics. He knew leaders of the Philippine element, and the American bigwigs as well. There is a good overall picture of those years, of measures taken, of struggle to sustain certain focus on objectives, of personalities. But it never quite cuts under the surface facts to the inner conflicts, the business interests, the opposition to independence, etc. It lacks too the color, the human quality that it might have had if Quezon had written it in his own tongue. The last part traces the coming of the enemy -- the fall of Manila -- his brief stay at Corregidor -- his setting up of a seat of government in a still uncaptured part of the islands -- and finally his departure for Australia, and America....The interest lies in the fact that this is Quezon's own story, rather than in any news value or emotional content or interpretation...I finished it with a regret for what he had not told.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Appleton-Century

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1945

Categories: NONFICTION