In this exploration of corporate maneuvering and subterfuge, journalist Chapman shows how the importer United Fruit set the precedent for the institutionalized power and influence of today's multinational companies. This infamous company was arguably the most controversial global corporation ever--from the jungles of Costa Rica to the dramatic suicide of its CEO, who leapt from an office on the 44th floor of the Pan Am building in New York City. From the marketing of the banana as the first fast food, to the company's involvement in an invasion of Honduras, the Bay of Pigs crisis, and a bloody coup in Guatemala, Chapman weaves a tale of big business, political deceit, and outright violence to show how one company wreaked havoc in the "banana republics" of Central America, and how terrifyingly similar the age of United Fruit is to our age of rapid globalization.--From publisher description.