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Mon 04 Apr 2007Slow decline in power of the banana kingsBusiness booksUnited Fruit's downfall followed political changes in its production areas, writes Richard HooperIt is seldom one finishes a book and bemoans the fact that it was not twice or three times as long. However this will be the reaction of many readers to Peter Chapmans's Jungle Capitalists. Even though the work is more tightly focused that its title suggests the reader is left with a desire to know more about the central subject of the book: United Fruit - the company that for 60 years enjoyed the benefit of a monopoly of the US banana market.