The Philippines : a singular and a plural place / David Joel Steinberg.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 189-210) and index.

A unified nation with a single people, the Philippines is also a highly fragmented, plural society. Divided between uplander and lowlander, rich and poor, Christian and Muslim, between those of one ethnic, linguistic, and geographic region and those of another, the nation is a complex mosaic formed by conflicting forces of consensus and national identity and of division and instability. It is not possible to comprehend recent changes in the Philippines without an awareness of the religious, cultural, and economic forces that shaped the history of these islands. These forces were the focus of the first edition of The Philippines. Now the author, has revised the book extensively and added chapters on the Marcos era and the ascension of Corazon Aquino. (Source: http://www.abebooks.com)