Bananas: How the United Fruit Company Shaped the World?If you only read a handful of nonfiction books this year, [ Bananas! ] is among your recommended five portions.” ? The Observer In this gripping exploration of corporate manuevering and subterfuge, Peter Chapman shows how the importer United Fruit set the precedent for the institutionalized power and influence of today's multinational companies. Bananas! is a sharp and lively account of the rise and fall of this infamous company, arguably the most controversial global corporation ever ? from the jungles of Costa Rica to the dramatic suicide of its CEO, who leapt from an office on the forty-fourth floor of the Pan Am building in New York City. From the marketing of the banana as the first fast food, to the company's involvement in an invasion of Honduras, the Bay of Pigs crisis, and a bloody coup in Guatemala, Chapman weaves a dramatic tale of big business, political deceit, and outright violence to show how one company wreaked havoc in the ?banana republics” of Central America, and how terrifyingly similar the age of United Fruit is to our age of rapid globalization. |
What people are saying - Write a review
BANANAS!: How the United Fruit Company Shaped the World
User Review - KirkusFinancial Times (London) journalist Chapman's insider account of United Fruit as the template for the modern multinational company often gets mired in the minutiae of a century's worth of dubious ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - delirium - LibraryThingA fascinating look at the economic powers that ran the Americas during the nineteenth century. United Fruit was largely responsible for the turmoil that still exists in Latin America today. As Gabriel ... Read full review
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
appeared Arbenz areas arrived Atlantic banana become Bernays Black boat Boston brought building Cabot called Canal capital Caribbean Castro Central America century claimed coast Communism company's Costa Rica coup Cuba deal Department disease dollars Dulles early East forces grow Guatemala hands Honduras hundred Hunt idea interest invasion island John jungle keep Keith known labour land late later laws less living looked Minor moved needed Nicaragua Panama plant plantations President Preston problem producers railway remained reports republic Rican Roosevelt seemed ships showed side Social soon streets suggested taken term things thought thousand tion took trade turned United Fruit wanted Washington White workers wrote Zemurray