Bananas: How the United Fruit Company Shaped the World

(Paperback, Main)

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From their nineteenth-century beginnings in the jungles of Costa Rica to reaching the halls of power in Washington, D.C, from the mass-marketing of the banana as the first fast food, to fostering covert links with the CIA and involvement with a bloody coup in Guatemala, the United Fruit Company pioneered the growth of globalisation and created the blueprint for how corporations could wield influence and power, at any cost.

In this compelling history of the United Fruit Company, Peter Chapman weaves together a dramatic tale of big business, deceit and violence, exploring the origins of one of the most controversial global corporations ever.

Reviews

'[An] insightful history of the company . . . [A] witty, energetic narrative' - New York Times Book Review

'Finely crafted . . . Chapman's broad-brush approach to history gives it a vigorous and entertaining narrative drive . . . Chapman's achievement is to make us realise what a long and complex moral journey even something as seemingly innocent as a banana has made to our fruit bowls' - Mark Cocker

'If you only read a handful of non-fiction books this year, [Bananas] is among your recommended five portions' - Observer

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Engagingly told . . . Delightful cameos of Carmen Miranda, Andy Warhol and Evelyn Waugh . . . Best is Chapman's account of the precarious ecology of the modern banana

' - Independent

'The term banana republic has become so divested of meaning that it's been adopted by a mid-range clothing chain. Its sobering reality is spelled out in this clear, dryly witty account of United Fruit' - Metro

'Excellent, darkly humorous expose' - Herald

Author Bio

Peter Chapman is a journalist and writer, and a former BBC foreign correspondent in South America. He works for the Financial Times as an editor and writer, and lives in London.