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Article: Going For the Gold
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- October 16, 1988
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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THE MARCOS DYNASTY By Sterling Seagrave
Harper & Row. 485 pp. $22.50
ONCE UPON a time in the Philippines-in 1970 to be precise-a poor
locksmith dug up a one-ton solid gold statue of Buddha whose
twist-off head cleverly concealed what Sterling Seagrave, in his
scorching biography of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, speculates were
the crown jewels of "some Siamese or Mon ruler in the Malay
Peninsula" who, one faintly hopes, will turn out to be the King of
Siam as portrayed by Yul Brynner.
But although this faint hope is dashed, Seagrave's history of
how the Philippines' former president and first lady managed to
become so awfully corrupt and so immensely rich and powerful will
satisfy the ...