Making Moros offers a unique look at the colonization of Muslim subjects during the early years of American rule in the southern Philippines. Hawkins argues that the ethnological discovery, organization, and subsequent colonial engineering of Moros was highly contingent on developing notions of time, history, and evolution, which ultimately superseded simplistic notions about race. He also argues that this process was highly collaborative, with Moros participating, informing, guiding, and even investing in their configuration as modern subjects.

Drawing on a wealth of archival sources from both the United States and the Philippines, Making Moros presents a series of compelling episodes and gripping evidence to demonstrate its thesis. Readers will find themselves with an uncommon understanding of the Philippines' Muslim South beyond its usual tangential place as a mere subset of American empire.

I highly recommend this book. This is a fine contribution to the new imperial history and subaltern studies. Its relevance goes beyond Filipino historiography and the early twentieth century.

Well written and theoretically sophisticated, the book merits the attention of those interested in American imperialism and the history of the Philippines.

Essential reading for scholars of Mindanao, Philippine, and postcolonial history alike.

Michael Hawkins is assistant professor of history at Creighton University.