Bananas - by Peter Chapman (Paperback)

About the Book

A lively and insightful cultural history of the coveted yellow fruit, as well as a gripping narrative about the infamous rise and fall of the United Fruit Company

Book Synopsis

In this compelling history, Peter Chapman shows how the United Fruit Company took bananas from the jungles of Costa Rica to the halls of power in Washington, D.C., with not just clever marketing, but covert CIA operations, bloody coups and brutalised workforces. And how along the way they turned the banana into a blueprint for a new model of unfettered global capitalism: one that serves corporate power at any cost.

Review Quotes

A gripping story of the ebbs and flows of US
capitalism-- "Guardian"

A powerful example from the past . . . a century-long tale of plunder, bribery, corruption, labour abuse, death squads, military coups and war-- "Financial Times"

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"

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

A fast-paced and shocking romp through the pioneer spirit of globalisation--MARK THOMAS

A tale of corporate skulduggery, an irreversible lesson in agricultural folly and a musing on the banana's place on our collective palate . . . An impressive indictment of a deeply flawed corporation-- "The Nation"

Any tinpot regime these days tends to get called a banana republic. We have to remember they were real, vicious and bloody regimes set up and toppled at the behest of US fruit companies. Those corporations gave globalisation a bad name before we even used the term, and Peter Chapman's racy but erudite read constantly makes you wonder how much has changed-- "New Scientist"

Excellent, darkly humorous expose-- "Herald"

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 "Guardian"

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

Offers a compelling cautionary tale of the evils of overmighty corporations and untrammeled globalisation-- "Publishers Weekly"

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"

About the Author

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.