Insatiable appetite : the United States and the ecological degradation of the tropical world / Richard P. Tucker.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Tucker, Richard P., 1938-

Series:

Exploring world history

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Tropical crops--Economic aspects--History--20th century.

Tropical crops.

Tropical crops--Environmental aspects--History--20th century.

Investments, American--Tropics--History--20th century.

Investments, American.

Environmental degradation--Tropics--History--20th century.

Environmental degradation.

History.

Tropical crops--Economic aspects.

Tropics.

Physical Description:

ix, 267 pages : maps ; 23 cm.

Edition:

Concise revised edition.

Place of Publication:

Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, [2007]

Summary:

Now in a concise edition created expressly for students and general readers, this widely hailed study traces the transformation of the tropics in modern times. Exploring the central role of the United States in the ongoing devastation of tropical lands, Richard Tucker highlights the unrelenting pressure caused by the demands of U.S. consumerism. All readers who are interested in environmental degradation and its links to the world economy will be enlightened by this masterful history.

Contents:

Introduction: America's global environmental reach

America's sweet tooth: cane sugar transforms tropical lowlands

Banana republics: Yankee fruit companies and the tropical American lowlands

The last drop: the American coffee market and the hill regions of South America

The tropical cost of the automotive age: corporate rubber empires and the rainforest

The crop on hooves: American cattle ranching in Latin America

Unsustainable yield: American loggers and foresters in the tropics

Conclusions: consuming appetites.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 223-253) and index.

ISBN:

9780742553651

0742553655

OCLC:

77004284