Bitter Fruit, Stephen Schlesinger
Bitter Fruit, Stephen Schlesinger
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Bitter Fruit
The Story of the American Coup in Guatemala, Revised and Expanded

Author: Stephen Schlesinger, Stephen Kinzer

Series: David Rockefeller Center series on Latin American studies

Narrator: Bill Andrew Quinn

Unabridged: 11 hr 5 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/06/2026


Synopsis

Bitter Fruit is a comprehensive and insightful account of the CIA operation to overthrow the democratically elected government of Jacobo Arbenz of Guatemala in 1954. First published in 1982, this book has become a classic, a textbook case of the relationship between the United States and the Third World. The authors make extensive use of U.S. government documents and interviews with former CIA and other officials. It is a warning of what happens when the United States abuses its power.This audiobook is expertly read by Bill Andrew Quinn, with audio engineering by Mike Thal. It was produced and published by Echo Point Books & Media, an independent bookseller in Brattleboro, Vermont.Copyright (C) 1982, 1983 by Stephen Schlesinger and Stephen Kinzer (P) (2025) Echo Point Books & Media, LLC

Reviews

Goodreads review by Christopher on January 28, 2026

Damning historical expose probes the American coup d'etat against Jacobo Arbenz's left-leaning government in Guatemala. Kinzer and Schlesinger do a fine job sketching Guatemalan history and culture, showing that small nation slowly but inexorably moving from military rule towards fragile democracy........more

Goodreads review by Adelina on October 31, 2012

I ordered this book because I had to give a conference in Guatemala and was confused about the beginning of the country's long armed conflict. I figured this was a good place to start, and it was. It helped me understand better not only the American role in Guatemala, but also a lot of the current a......more

Goodreads review by Erik on May 14, 2013

This, like Kinzer's All the Shah's Men, is a very readable history designed for the non-specialist. Unlike some histories, the authors do not conceal their disdain for those Washington policy-makers, most particularly the Dulles brothers, who destroyed the fledgling Guatemalan democracy's attempts a......more

Goodreads review by Dan on April 04, 2022

The classic liberal exposé of the US coup in Guatemala. This does a good job relaying the story of the coup, the history leading up to it, and the immediate aftermath. Where it stumbles is it's political analysis, where the authors liberalism really holds it back. The book's authors point out the dif......more

Goodreads review by Thomas Ray on December 17, 2021

Bitter Fruit: The American Coup in Guatemala, Stephen Schlesinger & Stephen Kinzer, 2005 (This is a 1982 book plus 36 pages of 2005 front matter and a 10-page 2005 afterword), 330pp., ISBN 067401930X, Dewey 972.81052 Focused on 1954, with enough before & after to be a good overview of what happened a......more