Author Description

The Arms of Krupp is William Manchester's history of the Krupp dynasty, which owned & ran a dominant armaments manufacturing company based in Essen, Germany. The book presents very readable descriptions of the behavior of the Krupp family & its firm from the 30 Years' war to the Kaisers, the Weimar Republic, the Nazis, the American occupation & finally the Bonn government. The book describes how under each regime (except possibly Weimar) the family & firm received favorable treatment. Bizarre facets of families members are detailed. The innovative social welfare programs for factory workers are starkly contrasted with the treatment of forced laborers (ostarbeiters etc.) The Krupps armed the forces of the Kaiser & of Hitler & financed Hitler's "Terror Election" of 1933. During the Nazi era the Krupps ruled 138 privately owned concentration camps.