The Walls of Jolo

by Alan Caillou

One of the bloodiest little wars in American history serves as the background for this story of high adventure and brutal combat. The setting is the island of Sulu in the Philippines, the time immediately after the Spanish-American War.The United States has gained possession of the islands, and American troops are fighting a series of savage guerilla skirmishes with rebellious local tribes. The most feared and fearless of these are the violent Moros, headed by a chieftain of unusual intelligence named Jokiri. Jokiri lays a treacherous ambush for the foreigners. Surrounding a group of Army officers who fall into his trap, he slays and beheads all of the soldiers except Captain Shay Sullivan, whom he takes to his camp. There Sullivan faces unimaginable torture and death unless he turns traitor to his country and teaches the Moros American war tactics. The Walls of Jolo is the story of what happens to Shay in the guerilla camp when he does battle with Jokirihis only weapons courage, and the fearless love of the Spanish beauty who tries to help him Medina, Jokiris beautiful adopted daughter.

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

Reviews

[Cameron Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd recommend it. I love that the author was part of the British Army and later the Intelligence Corps. Having been captured himself and escaped, you have to wonder how much of this story is "change the names and call it fiction" but it's clear that Caillou himself has faced many of the obstacles that lie within this tale. On face value alone (as a work of fiction) it may have a handful of storytelling flaws, but knowing the genuine place this author wrote from, I was really into the book and found myself rooting for Sullivan, the main character of our story. Honestly, it would probably make for a great movie. There really wasn't as much talk of war tactics and strategy as another reviewer mentioned. At worst, it slows down the pace of the real story here and there and isn't what this book is about anyway. Still very much worth a read.

[Walter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Walls of Jolo is the story of American soldiers in a different kind of war, a war where the enemy is hidden and attacks in secret, Muslim insurgents in a foreign land in a very limited war. Does it sound like the American experience in Iraq or Afghanistan? That's how it sounded to me as I read the "Walls of Jolo", but this story was actually written in 1908 and is about the US Army's involvement among the "Moros" of the Phillipines in the Phillipine Insurrection.

In the years immediately following the Spanish-American War, the US Army occupation forces in the newly acquired Spanish territory of the Phillipines were faced with rebellion by Muslim populations in several of the Phillipine islands. American soldiers were sent to outposts among the Moros where they were expected to easily overwhelm these "savages" with advanced soldiering. But the US soldiers were hunted like animals in strange terrain among a foreign people. The "Walls of Jolo" describes the terror and confusion felt among US soldiers during the Phillipine Insurrection. This was a little known war, but in the light of the US experience in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years, this little known war should be better known among military planners and tacticians. I am actually surprised that Caillou's novel has not been reprinted for just the purpose since 9/11.

Although I have only rated this novel with 3 stars, it is a valuable work for students of wars of insurgency. The problem with this novel is that it is not a well crafted novel. The storyline is muddy and the characters are not well developed. I am not familiar with the background of Alan Caillou but I assume that he was either a military man or a war correspondent because of his great knowledge of the warfare and tactics of the time. For those who are looking for a good description of insurgencies at the turn of the century, this novel is must reading.

There is a place in this novel where the author opines that the age of great armies clashing in large battles, such as were seen in the Napoleonic Wars, the Franco-Prussian War and the American Civil War, were a thing of the past. The author wrote this about 10 years before World War I and several years before WWII and Korea, so his prediction that all future wars would be insurgencies was far from true. But Caillou wrote this novel in the immediate wake of the Boer War and the Phillipine Insurrection, at a time when small wars against irregular forces looked like they were becoming the norm. It is interesting that the same claims are being made by military theorists today in the wake of Iraq and Afghanistan. Perhaps they should read "Walls of Jolo" and experience the deja vu.

[Rishindra Chinta · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel started out well, but my interest started diminishing after the first half. I was kind of hoping for a better plot. But I liked the author's prose style and how he wrote action.