Inside the Palace: The Rise and Fall of Ferdinand & Imelda Marcos

by Beth Day Romulo

How and why was the Marcos government overthrown? For twelve years, as the wife of General Carlos Romulo (Marcos's most trusted adviser), American reporter Beth Day Romulo was on intimate terms with Imelda Marcos. She describes the nature of the blackmail Imelda extracted from her errant husband: the opulent junkets, decadent parties, the monumental shopping binges - as the people suffered and the revolution rolled closer. Here is the dream of democracy that degenerated into a reign of excess.

Genres: Politics, History, Asia

271 pages, Paperback

First published September 10, 1987

Reviews

[Roberto D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 96 out of 200 books
"Inside the Palace" by Beth Day Romulo

"Inside the Palace" is a memoir by Beth Day Romulo, the later wife of ex-foreign affairs secretary and ex-general Carlos P. Romulo. The memoir is all about the later rule of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda Marcos, during the 1980s when they were losing their grip of their power on the nation. The novel starts off with the funeral of Carlos P. Romulo and ends with the depictions of the People storming the Malacañang Palace in the aftermath of the People Power Revolution.

MY THOUGHTS:
One of the most recently political books I've read, well- this book is amazing. Rated it 4 Stars but decided to give it 5 because of the timeliness of the novel.

I learned more about Carlos P. Romulo in this book. Romulo is well-known in schools for writing "I Am a Filipino" but most people don't know he too is an educator and a military officer in his later career. It is now wonder why Ferdinand Marcos wanted him in his cabinet.

Anyway, the book was a good read, Learning a lot and realizing that Imelda Marcos was corrupt. The entire Marcos family are involved with corruption, even to the modern day. May all books regarding Martial law be protected!!

[Naraystia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally tracked the book down after years of looking - found it through an inter library loan for the University of Alberta. It's been more than a decade since I last read it and it's still shocking.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating inside look at the Marcos dictatorship from the perspective of the American wife of Foreign Minister Romulo. I do think the author didn't question her and her husband's complicity in the administration nearly enough, though I understand she was trying to salvage her husband's legacy. Still, this was useful as an insider's understanding as to what was going on.

[Harold · Rating 5 out of 5]

An insiders peek into the gilded lives of the Marcoses when they were in power. And not just from an authoritative source but also a foreigner who began by looking from the outside, similar to how we look at history today. She shares insightful tidbits that most Filipinos might have missed out on

[Haide Amalyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eye opener. Should be read by every Filipino. The whole family really fucked up our country big time.

To summarize: nakakaputang ina.

[Kyth Palma]

The book was written by the wife of our late Foreign Minister Carlos P. Romulo. This was an honest recount of the events during the Marcos Regime in the eyes of one of the ladies who was close to the First Family. She shared her first hand experience and the actual events of how Imelda lived lavishly, her character as the First Lady and the important issues that transpired. It is a good book for us to have a glimpse of what the Marcos Family was and had become till the last days in the Malacanang.

[Roxanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book about the corruption of the Marcos regime in the Philippines. They lived an opulent lifestyle wuile the country starved. It was about time they got a good leader who cares about their poeple.

[Issa · Rating 5 out of 5]

imelda marcos apologist: “here’s a fashion icon”
beth day romulo: “here’s the bill for her fashion icon-ness”