The Fish That Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King

Samuel Zemurray arrived in America in 1891 with nothing. By the time he died sixty-nine years later in New Orleans, he was among the world's richest and most powerful men. Starting as a roadside fruit peddler, Zemurray built a banana empire that made him a symbol of American opportunity and corporate power. Zemurray's rise took him from the docks of New Orleans to the heights of international business. He built an operation involving banana cowboys, mercenary soldiers, Honduran peasants, CIA agents, and American statesmen. His activities extended to overthrowing Central American governments and played a role in the thirty-six-year Guatemalan civil war. Rich Cohen's historical profile examines Zemurray as a hidden power broker whose ambition shaped American business and foreign policy. The book was named a Best Book of the Year by the San Francisco Chronicle and The Times-Picayune.