Jungle Capitalists

by Peter Chapman

In this powerful and gripping book, Peter Chapman shows how the pioneering example of the importer United Fruit set the precedent for the institutionalized greed of today's multinational companies. The story has its source in United Fruit's 19th Century beginnings in the jungles of Costa Rica. It moves via the mass-marketing of the banana as the original fast food, United Fruit's involvement in an invasion of Honduras, a massacre in columbia and a bloody coup in Guatemala, and the very public suicide on Park Avenue of the company's chairman, Eli Black, in the 1970s. From its bullying business practices to its covert links to the US government, United Fruit blazed the trail of global capitalism through the 20th Century. Chapman weaves a dramatic tale of big business, lies and power to show how one company pioneered the growth of globalization.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Politics, Economics

220 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Sam]

good book with an interesting subject matter but I felt it didn't go indepth enough into the subject.

[Konain]

Plenty of good info but needed some tight editing. The author has a tendency to meander too much and tell stories within stories. But a must read nevertheless.

[Ned Moore]

I thoroughly enjoyed it. I really like the writing style and wasn't expecting the book to be such a page turner. I knew very little about United Fruit when I started reading it and was shocked at the hold the company had on both Central America and the US. The epilogue was very strong and really resonated. It's hard to believe that today so many politicians want to eliminate restrictions on businesses, knowing how dark capitalism can get.

[Lauren]

This book tells a fascinating story of politics, finance, and the dastardly deeds committed in the band of capitalism over the past century or so. Sadly, as other reviewers have pointed out, the writing is a terrible weakness. One of the major problems is the pacing, especially when Chapman is trying to describe concurrent narratives, and ends up being very repetitive. I found the linguistic problems too distracting to enjoy the book, but still was interested by what I learned.

[Sandy]

Definitely read this book if you are interested in Latin American history. (This is the British version of the book - "Bananas" is the American version).

[Helen]

The United Fruit Company takes on the world.....at gunpoint, in the name of the banana. The horrific tale of the might of the US corporation versus...Guatemala, Nicaragua, in fact most of S America.

[Tim Corke]

Excellent read, who would have thought bananas could cause some much trouble!!

[Fatihah]

Almost a subset of Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine except very focused on banana trading in South America. An informative read if some-what boring.