The Banana Men: American Mercenaries and Entrepreneurs in Central America, 1880-1930

by Lester D. Langley, Thomas D. Schoonover

Overview

Ambitious entrepreneurs, isthmian politicians, and mercenaries who dramatically altered Central America's political culture, economies, and even its traditional social values populate this lively story of a generation of North and Central Americans and their roles in the transformation of Central America from the late nineteenth century until the onset of the Depression. The Banana Men is a study of modernization, its benefits, and its often frightful costs.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813108360
Publisher:	University Press of Kentucky
Publication date:	12/28/1995
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Lester D. Langley is professor of history at the University of Georgia. He is the author of The Cuban Policy of the United States: A Brief History, Struggle for the American Mediterranean: United States-European Rivalry in the Gulf-Caribbean, 1776–1904, and The United States and the Caribbean, 1900–1970.

Thomas D. Schoonover is professor emeritus of history at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He is the author of eight books, including Uncle Sam’s War of 1898 and the Origins of Globalization, The Banana Men, and Germany in Central America.

Editorial Reviews

A valuable addition to the bookshelf of scholars, tourists, or volunteers who wish to understand the economic and political forces and North and Central American actors that created the regions banana republics.

Historical Geographer

An important addition to the literature of the United States' intervention in Latin America during the period after 1880.

Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science

Recounts incredible stories within the framework of social imperialism and dependency theory.

Latin American Research Review

The heart of the book is an engaging and fascinating narrative of the entrepreneurs and mercenaries who 'ravished' Central America between 1880 and 1930. Langley and Schoonover captured the spirit of the age and the personalities of those who walked across it by letting their characters speak for themselves and including descriptive passages in their traditional narrative.

The Americas

Although both historians have produced previous books on US-Central American relations, they have approached the subject from distinct perspectives and utilized different methodologies. In this study, they attempt to create a richer analysis by combining their respective strengths to examine a neglected topic

CJLACS

"Although both historians have produced previous books on US-Central American relations, they have approached the subject from distinct perspectives and utilized different methodologies. In this study, they attempt to create a richer analysis by combining their respective strengths to examine a neglected topic" — CJLACS

"A valuable addition to the bookshelf of scholars, tourists, or volunteers who wish to understand the economic and political forces and North and Central American actors that created the regions banana republics." — Historical Geographer

"Recounts incredible stories within the framework of social imperialism and dependency theory." — Latin American Research Review

"The heart of the book is an engaging and fascinating narrative of the entrepreneurs and mercenaries who 'ravished' Central America between 1880 and 1930. Langley and Schoonover captured the spirit of the age and the personalities of those who walked across it by letting their characters speak for themselves and including descriptive passages in their traditional narrative." — The Americas

"An important addition to the literature of the United States' intervention in Latin America during the period after 1880." — Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science

From the Publisher

A gallery of American and Central American rogues exploit puppet regimes, revolutions, shady capital, cheap labor, US gunships, and anything else not nailed down. Here is the foundation underlying the economic and political conditions of Central America today, the current overt and covert relations between the US and Central American governments, and familiar fortunes and conglomerates with tidied-up public relations images. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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