Genealogy Books - The Arms of Krupp 1587-1968

Back to The Arms of Krupp 1587-1968

Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating:

Summary: Cannon Kings
Comment: As business histories go, "Arms of Krupp," an 800 page indictment of the Krupp steelworks dynasty
(and the regimes that supported it), is a bizarre saga. After a brisk prologue that takes us from
1587 through to the beginning of the nineteenth century, we first meet Alfried Krupp, "Cannon King"
and warmonger, a man who believed fresh horse manure was good for the lungs and whose radical cannon
designs laid the basis for Prussia's victories in the Austrian and French wars. Next we meet Gustav
Krupp, suspected pederast, whose likely suicide only barely saved him from tabloid disgrace. Then
to Gustav von Bohlen und Halbach, an "adoptive" Krupp, chosen by the Kaiser to marry the surviving
female heir, Bertha (who gave her name to the "Big Bertha" 410 mm cannon of World War One).

Finally -- and this is the book's real focus -- we turn to Alfried Krupp, the last Krupp to run
the Essen steelworks. Manchester gives over about 1/3 of the book to detailing Alfried's
involvement in the Nazi slavery racket and his subsequent conviction for war crimes. As Manchester
shows, the Krupp crimes were at least as serious, if not worse, than those of I.G. Farben, and it is
nothing short of extraordinary that Alfried von Krupp was pardoned by the American military
governor. Krupp went on to refloat the Krupp works, only to see it collapse under a mountain of
debt in 1968.

This is a book that takes us from the giddy heights of nineteenth century robber
baron-ism to the full unmitigated horrors of the Nazi war complex, and manages to mix humour (for
much of the early Krupp saga is frankly hilarious) with deep compassion and sensitivity to the
victims of the war. A tour de force.

Customer Rating:

Summary: How the manufacturing family influenced the shape of Germany
Comment: This is an excellent description of a family, noted for their involvement with the steel industry
and especially the manufacturer of arms. They struggle with Germany's economy and influence
Germaine's foreign policy covering about 400 years.

It looks like a lengthy volume
however it is over just as you are getting started. A side benefit is the technical information
added helps you imagine what is like to design and sell the arms.

In some cases arms
were almost given away for a cause. At other times they mercenarily sold arms to may conflicting
countries on both sides. This story parallels other books on history and makes the world seem that
it is made up of people not just historical facts. Speaking of historical facts, one of the things I
like to do is to read books that become movies and movies that are novelized. This would have to be
a mini-series.

Notice that in the book; interestingly enough William Manchester
mentions that George Bernard Shaw actually based a play on the Krupp family, "Major Barbara" which
consequently was made into a movie with windy Hiller in 1941.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Publisher - Shame on You!
Comment: Now in the twilight of his years Manchester has revealed he lacks the mental focus necessary to
complete his trilogy on the life of Winston Churchill (while heroically fending off his publisher's
suggestion that he graft on a co-author to complete it). In its zeal to conjure some way to make
more money off the Manchester name, is it perhaps time for this publisher to ponder why one of the
greatest biographers and historians in memory can only be read by combing the bins of used
bookstalls or grasping the dog-eared library tome?

The Arms of Krupp (out of print), and many
others of the canon are seminal works with a devoted readership. Perhaps the right marketing
opportunity simply has yet to strike. Making a movie (and a bad one at that) about Pearl Harbor
popped even the questionable Gordon Prange back into prominence. Clearly, in these days when book
publishers are conveniently tied into the entertainment world as a matter of corporate domain, the
lonely vigil of the Manchester devotee must await the serendipity of Hollywood. Until then, Mr.
Manchester I laud you with the words of one still in print:

"To me fair friend you can never be
old,
For as you were when first your eye I eyed,
Such seems your beauty still."

Customer Rating:

Summary: Brilliant history
Comment: How DARE they let this book go out of print! This is one of the most brilliant histories of recent
years, a classic to go along with Bill Shirer's "Rise and fall of the Third Reich" and Barbara
Tuchman's "August 1914"/"The guns of August", to which it is an excellent companion. It captures
both eras and characters wonderfully well. ABove all, Manchester is a passionate historian. No
academic distance for hîm. The words burn with anger at the treatment of the slave workers of the
Third Reich - and their murdered offspring, to whom the book is dedicated. Long it may be but it
bears rereading, because nobody ought to forget this stuff.

Customer Rating:

Summary: When big corporations go bad
Comment: Ralph Nader never took on a big corporation even remotely as evil as the Krupp company was during
World War Two. Germany's leading arms manufacturer used slave labor to keep the nation's armies
supplied, and didn't particularly care whether the slaves lived or died. The conditions were
atrocious. If a worker died on the factory floor, the body was carried out and another slave put
in its place. They were starved, beaten and ultimately had no hope of survival short of Germany's
defeat. The most surprising thing is that Alfred Krupp, the President of the company during this
period, was not only released a mere three years after his conviction at Nuremburg, but given his
fortune and company back! This has to rate as one of the worst miscarriages of justice that
occurred because of the Cold War. Manchester's book is lengthy, but very readble. Overall, it
shows the profit motive at its most reprehensible.

Back to The Arms of Krupp 1587-1968

Showing page 2 of 3
1 | 2 | 3 |