History of the Filipino People

by Teodoro A. Agoncillo

Comprehensive overview of Philippine History including Pre-Spanish life and culture, Spanish rule, the Filipino -American War, American rule, and the campaign for Independence, among other subjects.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, School, Reference, Historical, College, Asia

637 pages

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Teodoro A. Agoncillo (November 9, 1912 – January 14, 1985) was one of the pre-eminent Filipino historians of the 20th century. He and his contemporary Renato Constantino were among the first Filipino historians who earned renown for promoting a distinctly nationalist point of view of Filipino history (nationalist historiography). He was also an essayist and a poet.

Life

Born in Lemery, Batangas, Agoncillio obtained a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of the Philippines in 1934 and a master's degree in the arts from the same university the following year. He earned his living as a linguistic assistant at the Institute of National Language and as an instructor at the Far Eastern University and the Manuel L. Quezon University. In 1956, he published his seminal work, Revolt of the Masses: The Story of Bonifacio and the Katipunan, a history of the 1896 Katipunan-led revolt against Spanish rule and its leader, Andres Bonifacio. He garnered acclaim for this book, as well as criticisms from more conservative historians discomforted by the work's nationalist, perhaps even Marxist bent.

In 1958, Agoncillo was invited to join the faculty of the Department of History of his alma mater, the University of the Philippines. He remained with the university until his retirement in 1977, chairing the Department of History from 1963 to 1969. Philippine President Diosdado Macapagal named Agoncillo as a member of the National Historical Institute in 1963. He served in this capacity until his death in 1985.

Agoncillo's History of the Filipino People, first published in 1960, remains a popular standard textbook in many Filipino universities, as are many of Agoncillo's other works. This is despite Agoncillo's controversial tone and for his perceived leftist bent. Gregorio Zaide, Teodoro Agoncillo, Reynaldo Ileto and Renato Constantino stand as the most prominent 20th century Filipino historians to emerge during the post-war period. It must be noted however, that Agoncillo's works suffer from uneven scholarship throughout, especially with his use (or especially, non-use) of reliable historical sources.

Works
The Revolt of the Masses - (a biography of Andres Bonifacio)
Malolos Crisis of the Republic - (sequel to Revolt of the Masses which discusses the events from Biak-na-Bato to the end of the Philippine-American War)
The Fateful Years - (Philippine history during World War II)
The History of the Filipino People

Reviews

[Dyan]

This was the textbook that we used in our mandatory Philippine History course in university. I don't know where my copy is now (I need to look for it in some forgotten box somewhere), but I remember how informative this book was, and not in a boring way. I especially liked the section on customs and culture because it was the first time that I had read something that explained certain quirks we Filipinos have. A historian friend of mine once told me that history sometimes depends on the perspective of the person/historian who wrote it; in this case, Agoncillo's book can serve as a good starting point to begin to explore the very interesting history of the Filipino people.

[Karsten Tenaja]

yawa di nako mabasa

[Hud-c · Rating 5 out of 5]

WARNING: Taglish review


History of the Filipino People, is the best history book I've ever read.

HEKASI, Kasaysayan, Social Studies - mga naging paboritong subject ko nung araw. Memorization lang kasi e so di kailangan ng sobrang pag-intindi. Dates lang kung kelan namatay si ganito, piniramahan ang isang kasulatang ganire, ilang barko ang natira sa expedisyon ni Magellan, ilan ang naging girlfriend ni Rizal bago naging sila ni Josephine Bracken, saan pinunit ang sedula etc. Pag kasaysayan, memorizatipon lang ang katapat, un ang akala ko.

Nung pumasok na ko ng college. Nag-iba ang mundo. First year, second semester. Nagkaroon ako ng isang klase na ginamit na reading material ang librong ito. Eye-opener, enlightening, educational, nurturing (anu pa bang english words ang pwedeng magamit?). Maganda ang pagka-expound ng mga detalye tungkol sa history ng Pilipinas. Hindi lang binibigyan ng sagot ang mga tanong na sino, paano, ano, kelan at saan, pati na rin ang bakit at pati na rin ang mga consequences ng mga pangyayari. To further explain, for example, kung pumayag ba si Rizal sa gusto ni Bonifacio, mas napadali ba ang rebolusyon? Kung walang bang Daniel Tirona, di kaya si Bonifacio ang unang Presidente ng Pilinas?


Para sakin, mas na-apreaciate ko ang kasaysayan ng bansa sa pagbabasa nito. Naging clear kung anu meaning ng salitang kasaysayan - kuwentong may saysay.

Maganda kung magagamit ito hindi lang sa curriculum sa college kundi maging sa hayskul man.

[Cesar Gealogo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great for individual person who is craving to know the history of the Filipino people. Its a nice book to read throughout and it is filled with valuable information.

[Faye · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the only history book I've read from cover to cover (and it wasn't even required reading in school!).

[Jennifer Cantiveros]

i want to read this book ..

[Veronica Rapacon]

so historical

[Bruce Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

about some history of the philippines

[Jeanier Basco · Rating 5 out of 5]

interesting

[Jeng]

i can read it..

[Rosane Bueno · Rating 2 out of 5]

nice

[Joshua Inoc · Rating 5 out of 5]

History of the Filipino People

[Jheii Calara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paano ko mababasa?

[Vandrei · Rating 5 out of 5]

i think i need this book because i want to have more knowledge in our Filipino history

[Junelee Rotoni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pwede ba to basahin Online ? Thanks sa feedback :)

[Johnacadele De]

this is the best book

[Janine Marie · Rating 1 out of 5]

this is awesome!

[Peng]

i wanna read this book

[ʀᴀᴠᴇɴ ★ · Rating 4 out of 5]

finally finished this one after, i think, a full month of on-and-off reading. before reading this, i've been researching philippine history and learning more about the culture. reading this lengthy bad boy just further solidified the knowledge that i collected. it's very interesting to see the country in different aspects as it progresses and evolves into its current state as a (hopefully) dignified civilization.

i was looking for the moment where it all went wrong—i couldn't find it. maybe it's always been wrong from the start. the so-called revolution against the spaniards, americans and japanese, or whatever else, didn't liberate the country. in fact, according to this book, we would've been better off if we stayed colonized by the colonizers—we were heavily reliant towards them. the problem is not the foreign countries. it's us, the filipinos, ourselves. we've always been encased in the cage that we unconsciously built. once it's started, the cycle will never end. i mean, look at what happened to antonio luna? assassinated by his own men. to andres bonifacio? faced with a bogus trial and then executed with his brother under aguinaldo's commands. and then look at where we're at now; back to square one. the more i try to make sense of all the suffering, the more meaningless it becomes. is there hope for an actual freedom of this country?

anyways, i got carried away. i just wanna say this book tells us everything significant that's happened from start to finish, but only up until the edsa revolution (which was explained very briefly). even so, it's a very informative, very detailed, not-very-boring-for-a-history-book, read.

[Alvino Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great

[Carlos Montes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I only managed to read at the beginning, which is concerned about the Pre-colonial period of Philippine history, but I am reviewing this book now since I can't finish this in a matter of few days personally because history books are meant to be read deliberately. Apparently, this book, written by the late Teodoro A. Agoncillo is told in an impressively detailed, comprehensive, yet easily digestible and surprisingly entertaining account of the history of my country. It immediately became one of my favorites.

[kii]

I finally finished after 352458947 years. Blame it on my short attention span. Length of reading aside, it was very informational and intriguing despite its condenseness. This is the first educational book that I have read during my leisure time, with no other reason than wanting to gain knowledge and the first that I have read cover to cover. Very worth the read as it has given me a new perspective on a lot of things. It was also fascinating to see how not a lot of things have changed since then (which isn’t necessarily a good thing).

[Iggy Acompanado]

iggy

[Glendale · Rating 1 out of 5]

I need to read this book...

[Ming Wei · Rating 5 out of 5]

insght to a part of the world I find very interesting. Great to learn about these interesting people, a good education and enjoyable book, good for anybody studying history in education

[Michael]

This could help me know the history of the Filipinos not the bias bases from the spaniards

[Amalia Dela Fuente · Rating 5 out of 5]

We read this in high school and I did not fully appreciate it. Now I want my grandkids to experience the book especially during the pandemic.

[Zachary Volkert · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some really reactionary views buried in this text. Calling The Beatles garbage compared to classical music being one that particularly caught me off guard, but heaping praise on the Marcos regime being the more infuriating. It's an absolutely excellent introduction to Flipino history, but your research should begin and not end here.

[Aron Sändh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A personal view of the history of the Philippines which provides an insight to the Filipino psyche as well as setting out stepping stone for a way forward. Used in Filipino schools. I hope it maintain it's status as a must read for Filipinos studying their past.

[Grigory · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book, pre-spanish chapters were especially interesting for me.

The author loves Americans and Ferdinand Marcos a bit too much, but I guess he was at least partly writing during his presidency, so nothing wrong with that.