The Arms of Krupp

Blurb

The Arms of Krupp is William Manchester's history of the Krupp dynasty, which owned and ran a dominant armaments manufacturing company in Germany. The company was based in Essen. The book presents very readable descriptions of the behavior of the Krupp family and its firm from the Thirty Years' War to the Kaisers, the Weimar Republic, the Nazis, the American occupation, and finally the Bonn government. The book describes how under each regime the family and firm received favorable treatment, culminating in a special law Lex Krupp. Bizarre facets of families members are presented in detail. The innovative social welfare programs for factory workers are starkly contrasted with the treatment of forced laborers Manchester's book tells presumably all-from the first Krupp "a shrewd chandler with a keen eye for the main chance," through the family's incarnation by the sixth generation as "Essen's uncrowned kings," to the powerful weapons empire that armed Germany for three major wars, and finally the dissolution of die Firma. Manchester slants his story; in this case, the Krupps are all malevolent.