Taken Captive a P.O.W. Story by 0oka Sh0hei, is about a Japanese man name 0oka Sh0hei who was drafted into the Japanese Imperial Army to fight the American Forces On January 25, 1945. Being captured from the Americans. This book is is an okay book. There was some action in it,wich was great. It was okay to thouse who are interested in an middle-clsss scholar who tries this to survive the life of the prison. this would be the book for you. If you are interested in action, i would not sugest this.

For eight months during 1945 I served as a Japanese interpreter (U.S. Marine Corps) at the Japanese POW Camp on Guam. I met and interviewed many Japanese prisoners during that time. This is the first account published by a former Japanese POW that I have seen since the War. American POWS have published but no Japanese for reasons made obvious by the author. I was on the outside looking in. To view prison life from the other side of the fence was most interesting, The book is superbly written. It is factual and honest.For anyone who fought the Japanese in the Pacific this book will open windows and offer to you a view that you might never have expected to look upon. T

The book details the thorough destruction of the most beautiful part of Manila which was south of the Pasig river. I was there during the shelling by American forces and the killing and raping by the Japanese marines. Friendly fire killed as many civilians as Japanese atrocities. What is lacking in the book is the perspective of the battle from a Filipino's eyes. All the examples written by the authors and all the anecdotes are those of Europeans. If 200,00 civilians were indeed killed during the battle, 99% of them were Filipinos! Yet, hardly any Filipino sources were used by the authors. Just look at the photos of the victims: all Europeans!

This is a highly detailed account of the bitter fighting which left Manila in ruins. The voice of the book appears to be that of a committee, and it lacks the unified vision and humanity of say, a Cornelius Ryan. The authors seem to be smugly "wise after the event", bringing modern-day sensitivities to what was essentially a fight-to-the-death city wide bar-room brawl. Nonetheless, it's a must read if you are planning to go to Manila, where you can still visit the scenes where these vast, and minor, tragedies were played out. Soak in the atmosphere, but ignore the judgmental pronouncements.

My mother was born and raised in Manila and met my father there. I grew up hearing these stories first hand and saw the war damage with my own eyes. For myself, my mother, and her family and friends this book was an emotional juggernaut and extremely difficult to read. It's easy to say in hindsight, that what we did was wrong but, on the other hand when your friends, family and city is raped and mutilated before your very eyes there is no easy solution. History and war is seldom brought to the reading public on a personal level like this. This book personalizes it. The people and places are real. I know they are real. My family was there.

I made the mistake of buying all three of these books at once, based on their often being mentioned as the "American Flashmans". Well, they certainly shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath. The author has an extremely annoying habit of trying to use a different phrase for "he said" every time he records a conversation. He breathed, he whispered, he raged, he mumbled, he moaned, he shouted, he queried, he twittered, he giggled, he asked, he wondered, he stated, etc. ad nauseum. Once you notice (which didn't take long) his text becomes unreadable. Literally- I read twenty pages of the first, and the other two have never been opened.

If you're wondering why all the reviewers insist on comparing this book to George MacDonald Fraser's Flashman series, it's because the book is so obviously derivational. It's a fun, light, semi-historical adventure about a cowardly anti-hero. But, compared to the original, the history is not as exacting and the humor isn't as acidic.

If you're a Flashman fan and are waiting impatiently for the next installment, go ahead, read Saunders' three volumes and enjoyably kill some time. It's not Flashman, but it's not bad either, and it is in the same flavor. If on the other hand, you HAVEN'T read the entire Flashman series, skip Saunders and read Fraser's books first.

Raymond Saunders' character, Fenwick Travers, leads us through his formative years from growing up in southern Illinois to service in the Southwest to West Point and beyond. Travers is arrogant, a lier, and a scoundrel, but we enjoy his adventures never-the-less! I only hope that Saunders writes more volumes.

Renato Constantino "Miseducation of the Filipino"

As a person interested in social justice and race relation issues, and a first time reader of Philippine history, i found the book very interesting and highly educational on the subject of the United States military,political,social,economic and cultural subjugation of the Filipino people from the year 1900 to 1986. It made me ashamed to live in the United States and benefit ( either directly or indirectly) from the subjugation of the Filipino people. It detailed the specific evil nature of U.S. foriegn policy in its quest to gain ( militarily, politically and economically) at the expense of others "misery" !!!!

Yay! More anti-American polemic, from a non-Filipino who feels the Phillipines don't rebel often enough. There are some nice facts in here, like about how George Bush praised dictator Marcos for his "adherence to democratic principles and democratic processes" but most of it is full of highly anti-American rantings. A balanced picture is not something you'll get out of this book.

Interesting isn't it that when America's many embarrassing colonial misdeeds in the Philippines are exposed all the Right can do is blame the messenger and dismiss the work as a leftist "rant"?

With history generally written in a self-serving, sanitized fashion, it's refreshing to see a different take on US involvement in the Philippines -- one more in keeping with the general Philippine view of the situation as well, I estimate.

Sins is a compelling story, and worthy in a literary sense, but Jose's prose is more stilted than it should be, and this is a let down. Nonetheless, the story of Don Carlos is gripping, and an almost true-to-life account, it seems, of life at the upper echelons of Philippine society.

Shocking!! But truthful. Like an autobiography...but also like a diary. This was one shocking book! No suspense...just surprises.It kept me reading...when I wanted to put it down in horror or in disgust, I couldn't...the shock had such an impact

This short work describes the implementation and effects of the National Democratic Front (NDF) agrarian reform program in a village in Bicol, the Philippines. It begins with a description of rural society and the history of attempts at land reform throughout the Philippines. It then describes the NDF reform programme in general and goes on to discuss its implementation in the community in detail. Garcia Padilla is clearly an NDF partisan, is unclear about his sources, and has a slightly faulty grasp of English - Agrarian Revolution is not a great scholarly work. Given the limited amount of information available about areas under New Peoples' Army control, however, it will be of interest to anyone concerned with land reform in the Philippines.

If you are a rookie at cooking filipino dishes or simply can't cook at all then this book isn't for you-actually this book is more complicated than the other filipino cookbooks I got. I also recommend not get getting books that have bad/neutral reviews. I have found "Philippine Recipes Made Easy" by Violeta A. Noriega and "Filipino Cuisine: Recipes from the Islands" by Gerry G. Gelle, helpful and PLUS they have excellent reviews!

OK, I must have read that connect-the-dot gripe somewhere but I can't think of any other way to describe this mechanical, ledger-like presentation the author has presented his recipes. The simplistic approach has become as annoying as those pretentious hate, er, haute cuisines I see in some cook books. For example, the nilaga and the pochero is usually served with a cold dish of garlic, black pepper and mashed sweet potato but that was missing and you can't help but think the author just browsed thru the internet and with the help of a word processor just cut and pasted the recipes to meet his deadline. Perhaps this also explains why the book is printed on depressingly cheap paper with no photographs. If you are new to Filipino cuisine that is rather disastrous because all you get is a sorry photocopied landscape of uninspired recipes. How could you, Mister?

Also, I find the kowtowing to American taste plain stupid. Lemon juice for the venerable sinigang? What's wrong with tamarind? Using lemon thins out the punch of the sharp taste we are after. The high water content of lemon juice renders the whole symphony of flavors to this recipe insipid. Besides, this is the information age where exotic ingredients are not as exotic as they were eight or ten years ago. Just troop to your nearest gourmet store and see what I mean (unless, of course, you live in an obscure little town down somewhere in the Arctic). And why adapt a native recipe to American taste? If American flavor is what I am after, I will just dwell on club sandwich and all its vicissitudes for all I care. Why will I waste my time with adobo or sinigang or kare-kare?

Now I don't want to confuse you because others have reviewed this book favorably. I was born and raised in the Philippines. But my qualifications do not end there. I am also fiercely Filipino in everything. I am also passionate about food. Having immersed myself in the more globally-renowned cuisine of Thailand, Malaysia, India, China and even Myanmar I now can declare without guilt Philippine cuisine is one of the world's most underrated gastronomic pleasures. Everyone says Thai cuisine is the best in Southeast Asia. But that is only true because Philippine cuisine is almost never mentioned or even considered.

So a word of advice to the genuine-Filipino-cuisine seekers. This cookbook does not in any way represent authentic Filipino cuisine. Look somewhere else where the sinigang is punchy, the adobo tangy, and the kare-kare is compleat and spelled with a 10-karat "K."

Now you have an even bigger problem. Only a handful of decent cookbook exists for Philippine cuisine - to complicate matters even more, most of them locally published.

Could this be the reason why we are rarely mentioned along with, say, Thai, Malaysian, Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese cuisine?

But, of course, that is only me thinking out loud.

This is a great cookbook, especially for somone like me who is not filipino but my husband is. Therefor needed a resource for cooking those great foods his mother cooks all the time. I came today to actually buy another copy for my mother-in-law who was very impressed with my cooking lately. The milk candy was a big hit at Christmas. However I did notice the same problems as one of the other reviewers. My prime example is the Leche Flan, he lists in this recipe that to make the carmel to use water with the sugar in a pan and cook until sugar is browned. Actually you use no water and then once it has carmalized only a small amount to keep it from crystalizing in your pan. Since I don't know any better I had to do this 3 times and consult other cookbooks before getting it right. If I am unsure about the contents of a recipe I talk to my Mother in law first. The fish soup was another of these, the ingrediants don't come together and make it taste right. The tocino is to complicated when you can by ready made tocino mix and not use the nasty chemical it calls for. But on an upside alot of the other recipes have made me a wonder in the kitchen for our filipino parties and my inlaws have been bragging about my cooking. Overall it's a good book as long as you have a good grasp on filipino cooking as a whole. Clearly I like enouph to purchase a second for my inlaws to have.

For those of you that haven't heard of me, I have studied Serrada extensively in Stockton, California. I read the other reviews, and Master Khlid Khan, should not have complimented Mark Wiley. He did so to promote the book because he is in it. Guru Dennis Servaes, also in it and has trained with Grandmaster Vincent Angel Cabales and gave a review which tells it like it is. I would also advise against the purchase of books by Mark Wiley, or anything to do with Daren Tibon. Angel would not have authorized either book, and I cannot recommend either of wiley's books! Too much misinformation. I understand Daren is no longer recognized as a Master!

If the book had been a more technical treatment, that would have been great. It has that, but not enough. But even still, what it did have would have been ggggreat if, only if, Mark had not put in a bunch of sillyness.
What is the sillyness you ask? It is the goofy stories. I couldn't stand his little asides about the Magical Angel. I am so weary of the the "super-master" stories that some martial artists find so appealing. Keep in mind that I am not criticising Master Cabeles in anyway at all. I am sure he was great. But I think we diminish the greatness of lives lived when we begin to exagerate the reality of them. Let us be in awe of the real, not the fabrication we can easily make up.
At times Mark seems like a 4 year old who sees in his mentor superhuman quality. That can be endearing the hands of a capable writer, but that Mark Willey is not.

From KHALID KHAN: I trained for a continuous duration of 4 years from
GM Angel Cabales in the Serrada system. At many
times, Angel brought in either Darren Tibon or
Sultan Uddin to train me. Angel had the highest
respect for both of them, and also for Jerry Preciado,
Frank Rillamas, who all trained me, but mostly
it was Darren Tibon. I never heard Angel say bad words
about ANY of these above instructors. Sometimes, I also
trained from current GM Vincent Cabales. Dennis Servaes
is in the third generation from Darren, Sultan,
Jerry and Frank. Second Generation from these instructors
was me and others who were attending during those years.
So, Dennis came later. Now, I have worked out with
Dennis and will say his Serrada is one of the best
and he taught me also. But, let me present my view
on the argumentive and putting-down atmosphere that
is going on. There is no need for it. There is plenty of
work in Serrada. All of the instructors who trained directly
from Angel are the Pillars of Serrada and they cannot
be thrown out of Serrada. I think writing anything about
persons further causes division. Mark Wiley's books,
both of them, are not perfect, but are some ready texts
on Serrada. Mark tried to write a story-filled book
and got into trouble. He should have written a TECHNICAL
text, the way I am currently writing. The photosets on
the second book are pretty good, featuring the
current GM Vincent Cabales, and the ones including
Frank Rillamas and Anthony Davis photos. I will tell everyone
one thing: Dennis should not write about Darren Tibon
as Darren was there when Dennis was not, and he should
not take this as any affront. Darren and Vincent should
do some projects together in Serrada to make up
and better understand each other. Total progress of Serrada
depends upon all groups respecting and supporting each other,
instead of one group (my group here, your group there)
thinking we are the "best" and putting each other down.
This second book by Mark Wiley is not bad, but some
of the interviews by some instructors should have been
corrected, because Jerry should not have talked about
Vincent in this international book, and another famous
instructor talked strangely about GM Angel Cabales as if
Angel was a boy, and that should have been cut out. Mark
didnt give the text to the senior instructors to be
verified and that was bad. I was waiting to see some
of it and he had promised me. Now, he has already made
the book, and I understand is practicing even a different
art now (Kuntao?). Even left the publishing company
that printed the books. The book should have been written
by Sultan Uddin Kimball Joyce, or Vincent Cabales, or
by Darren Tibon, or with me as I am visual and a clearly technical
person only, and not political or jealous of anyone,
with Mark as second editor. Photos should
have been taken by me with my professional photography
background, as I would have taken the photos from higher
angle seeing everything being done in 3-D, rather than
flat against a wall. I am happy that I am in the book,
of course, but I am for betterment of all in Serrada,
and do not argue or put anybody down. With respect to all,
Khalid Khan, Pangulo ng Guro 1990 Serrada Eskrima.

Mark Wiley did somewhat better on the second edition, than the first, but for all his suposed knowledge he didn't have the diplomacy to not disrespect his seniors, including the Grandmaster Vincent Angel Cabales Sr. The first book in the list of masters ommited #16 Master Stanley Wells. At the photoshoot for the second book, I listened as Master Stanley Wells confronted Mr. Wiley about that. And I listened as Mark Wiley promised to include Master Stanley Wells in the list in the second edition. Master Stanley Wells, began training before Master Jaime Cabiero started in the early 70's. As for the Filipino culture, Mr. Wiley included in the book the language of Tagolog, rather than English or Vissayan as Grandmaster Angel would have prefered. Jerry Preciado, has studied Serrada, for many years, but did not receive his Master Degree at the time the 2nd book came out, yet the book lists him as Master. The contributing articles that most of the people wrote were rediculous, and should have been ommited also. The martial arts community seeing the Grandmaster in the Photos, may think that he is agreeing with what went into Mr. Wiley's book, but that is not the case. An incident at the photoshoot precluded further discussions and Mr. Wiley left early for the East Coast. During Angel's life he mentioned that he wanted 13 true disciples. He is well remembered as an honest and caring man. He had 13 disciples and he knew who they were. The title that some of Angel's past students use now is 'Angel's Disciples,' but that name was not given to them by Angel to my knowledge. It was after he died that they call themselves that. If they were true disciples they would reflect back to when Angel was alive, and appointed his son Grandmaster Vincent Angel Cabales Sr., to take over the Serrada Accademy as his main last wish. They would help out. I do not recommend Mr. Wiley's books on Serrada, however, some of his other books are better. He is gifted as a writer. Mr. Wiley has put out a lot of effort in the wrong direction. He needs to contact Grandmaster Vincent Angel Cabales Sr. when he wtrites about Serrada. The Grandmaster could have answered a lot of questions, if he would have asked. Train hard and have fun!

Unfortunately the book can only be as good as the practitioner and this one is not that good. He underestimates his readers by simplifying the concepts and techniques of his art, generalizing cultural and spiritual aspects. (BTW, he doesn't really do any better in Filipino Martial Culture.) The stories that he relays about the lineage are haphazzard. He picks and chooses which legends/stories he wishes to believe and uses that argument to counter other stories to the point where he essentially calls Dizon's boyhood training partner a liar. This is just bad research and bad oral history. He is not arrogant enough to say "this is my training experience" outright, but he serves the injustice of claiming this is real "research," when it seems he's only stepped as far as his back door. He may be an instructor, but it doesn't mean he understands his art to its very depths.

The foreword of the book was personally written by Grandmaster Angel Cabales who tells why he personally chose Mark Wiley to present his art to the public. As it clearly stated in the book, Grandmaster Angel Cabales read and approved the manuscript before his unfortunate death in 1991.

In this introductory book, Mr. Wiley purposely exaggerated the movements and distance of this short range fighting style to help the photographer and give the reader a clearer view of how the techniques are performed. Basic concepts and techinques were explained, but as with any martial arts book, it was never intended to be used as a means to learn the art without a qualified instructor. It is also admirable that Mr. Wiley focused on presenting the art form of Grandmaster Angel Cabales and did not digress into tales of his training that do nothing more than boost his own image like so many other martial arts authors do.

The author's qualifications to teach, write about, and demonstrate this art are impeccable. Mark Wiley received his Master's Degree (Pangulong Guro) in Cabales Serrada Escrima in March of 1990 by Grandmaster Angel Cabales. Mark Wiley has written for and edited numerous martial arts publications and regularly travels to the Philippines as well as other parts of Asia to do research on and continue his study of the martial arts.