Bananas: How the United Fruit Company Shaped the World

#370
Title: Bananas: How the United Fruit Company Shaped the World
Author: Peter Chapman
Year: 2007
Publisher: Canongate
240 pages

Three stars for content, one star for writing style, so two stars overall. Chapman presents very interesting information rather haphazardly, leaving many questions unanswered. In addition, he's a pretty clunky writer. The reader has to work to follow his inexplicable mid-paragraph topic changes and unfortunate grammar.

The content is worth it, if the reader perseveres. Chapman provides some background on bananas' natural history and modern banana culture. He associates this with the history of the United Fruit Company, focusing on its agricultural practices (monoculture, pesticides) and political practices (monopolies, underhanded dealings, colluding with military forces to take over countries (whence, apparently, the phrase "banana republic"), and intimidation.

It's a useful story to consider as we examine the espoused and covert roles of the U.S. in the Middle East. Unfortunately, Chapman makes it hard to keep reading.