Bananas: How the United Fruit Company Shaped the World is an account of the United Fruit Company, one of the 20th Century's most notorious corporations.
The book, written by Peter Chapman, describes the history of this strong and influential fruit business, that brought the banana, a rare and exotic fruit, into the world. Chapman traces the origins of the fruit to it's heritage located in South America, as it travels to the United States and the rest of the world. This exotic travel eventually begins as a struggle for United Fruit, though with the assistance of the United States through bloodshed and war, United Fruit becomes a strong political power in various South-American countries, such as Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras, and Cuba.
Money, greed, war, and capitalism eventually lead to the demise of United Fruit, however it is Chapman's descriptive account that intrigues the reader about the downfall of one of the world's most powerful corporations.
Overall, "Bananas" was a great summer read.
---Voltaire
I felt that Bananas was also a good book but could get dry at sometimes and it would just drag on. The most interesting part, for me was the company's problems it caused with using pesticides.
ReplyDeleteHoudini
I love this book, but I do think that the author assumes that his readers know all the major characters. If you don't know who the Dulles brothers were, then you miss a big part of the story. And, if you do know who they were, then the story is really fascinating. Since I was pretty clear on all the major players, I loved reading Chapman's quick, simple explanation of coup after revolution after coup after revolution. He was really quite calm about all the insane things the United Fruit Company did.
ReplyDeleteAnd, who knew every that every banana plant is a cultivar? Wild.
This sounds like a very interesting book. It's facinating to see how a fruit that we consider a staple of our diet shaped the world in such a big way. I surely had no clue that bananas made such an impact on economies.
ReplyDeleteOprah
This book sounds very different and interesting. I was not aware of the impact that bananas had on the world and the troubles they caused.
ReplyDelete- Cristina Aguiler
This book sounds very interesting. Like Oprah, I had no idea that such a seemingly minor part of our diet had such a major effect on different nation's economies.
ReplyDelete- Sacagawea
I read this book last year, and chose it because I thought it would be entertaining. Unfortunately, the book seemed to change subjects all the time. I personally disliked it.
ReplyDelete-Alexander the Great
After I read a book all about food, I personally think that it can get a bit boring, did this book keep you entertained or was it mostly just a food history that taught you fun facts about bananas?
ReplyDelete--Evita
It is interesting how greed can have such an influential role in a companies, or in my book countries demise.
ReplyDelete- Che Guevara
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ReplyDeleteit sounds like a crazy intersting topic, is it the smae sort of idea as the world being advanced and populated by the discovery of beer?
ReplyDelete-Vlad Putin
Wow I never thought that one fruit could spark so much attention, sounds like a great book with a pretty cool topic.
ReplyDelete-Lady GaGa
wow this is very surprising! i didn't realize that bananas had such an impact in certain nations economical and political standings.
ReplyDelete-Helen of Troy