THE PHILIPPINES: Wonderland of Many Cultures

A brief history of the sources of cultural diversity-native origins, Chinese influences, Spanish domination, American occupation -- forms the first half. The second treats modern Philippine life somewhat less adequately, omitting mention of the compadrazgo (ritual kinship relationship) or even the baptism ceremony in the section on ""A Child's Life."" The chapter on natural resources misleads the reader in, for example, referring to an abundance of palm trees but not mentioning the difficulty of reaching them; the menace of rats in cities as well as on farms is not brought up. Mostly, then, it's a question of omissions and scanty contents; for a more complete introduction Vaughan's The Land and People of the Philippines is written with fewer rough edges.