The Conquest of the World

It is 1983 in the Republic of the Philippines. U. S. Navy Commander Thomas Parker has been adrift in the world for more than twenty years, coming to see himself as something of a Byronic "Childe Harold," a spiritual exile within the external constraints of military service. Forced to resign his commission, he stays on in the Philippines. His love for Filipina Maria de la Cruz causes him now to engage in a tangled web of moral issues, raising questions even of his loyalty to his country. He finds his adopted home is a country of cabals and secret societies and coup d'etat; insurgents and terrorists; Christians, Muslims, Shamans; a country of more than 70 distinct languages. It is pervaded by poverty, controlled by centuries-old oligarchies of wealthy families and now the military. A legacy of colonial exploitation by Spain and the Catholic Church as well as U. S. paternalism overlays the country. The family of Maria is land-owning and wealthy. Her idealistic uncle, Philippine Constabulary Colonel Fortunato de la Cruz, is sickened by the corruption he sees within the military and the government. The assassination of Benigno Aquino is a catalyst for action. When he jumps to the other side and joins the Maoist New People's Army, he is supported by his deeply religious niece, now Parker's wife, and Belgian Dominican Catholic priest Petrus Bleecker. Upon this tableau of faith, nationalism, and western thought, Parker now must play out his destiny.