A fictionized biography, the book takes the reader to the turn of the 20th century during the Filipino-American war, the beginnings of benevolent assimilation, the Thomasites, the early migrant workers and their struggles in America, public education in English, the struggle of a working student, the return of Filipino pensionados, the war years, post war Manila, to the legacy left by the main character. A kind of social history, told plainly