Bananas: How the United Fruit Company Shaped the World
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.24 (710 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 1847671942 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 240 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2017-04-23 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Chapman's determination to tar United Fruit with the brush of multinational rapaciousness knows no end: "Like multi-national companies today, United Fruit made alliances when and where it could to survive. Its efforts showed that as long as it did not unduly offend the contemporary mores of its home base, then it could probably get away with much overseas. In December 1928, Colombian Army troops, acting in the interests of the United Fruit Company, opened fire on striking workers in the town of Ciénaga, near the author's native town, Aracataca. . In this sense, Chapman gets it more or less right. They were penned in, swirling about in a gigantic whirlwind that little by little was being reduced to its epicenter as the edges were systematically being cut off all around like an onion being peeled by the insatiable and methodical shears of the machine guns." The only
In this compelling history of the United Fruit Company, Financial Times writer Peter Chapman weaves a dramatic tale of big business, deceit, and violence, exploring the origins of arguably one of the most controversial global corporations ever, and the ways in which their pioneering example set the precedent for the institutionalized greed of today’s multinational companies.The story has its source in United Fruit’s nineteenth-century beginnings in the jungles of Costa Rica. What follows is a damning examination of the company’s policies: from the marketing of the banana as the first fast food, to the company’s involvement in an invasion of Honduras, a massacre in Colombia, and a bloody coup in Guatemala. power brokers such as Richard
Percy Dovetonsils said Corruption uncovered!. Not knowing much about bananas nor banana republics, I found this book educating me on both. On the technical side, I now understand the fragility of our banana supply. On the business side, I now understand how American business has corrupted American politics with res. mr d said Could have been better, could have been worse. Breezy and a quick read, a good introduction to the topic, but not a particularly in depth treatment. Nice bones of a great story here, but not much meat on them. And as much as I may agree with the evils of multinationals, the anticapitalist tone in the book is a bit o. A lot of History From how we got sliced banana in cereal, Chiquita Banana and coups in Guatemala to Garcia Marquez "100 years of solitude". An Eye opening history to How the Banana Republics were forged and how one "octopus" corporation shaped our world.