Customer Reviews

The Arms of Krupp 1587-1968

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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 hīm. 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.

This is an excellent and erudite study of the Krupp family from the first Krupp in the 16th century to the last in the 1960s. A brilliantly researched and marvelously told story of a family whose fortunes mirrored the rise and fall of Germany from 1850 onwards. Krupp armaments played an important role in the defeat of France under Napoleon III and in the arming of the Second Reich leading to World War One. Their role in the Third Reich is examined minutely and it is quite clear that the company was vitally important in rearming Germany after Versailles and by supporting Hitler from an early stage played an odious part in the Wermacht's wars of conquest. There is great deal of detail of the company's disgusting role in the maintenance of its own concentration camps and the firm's use of slave labor and its consequent appalling brutality. Despite being convicted at Nuremberg, Alfried Krupp spent only a few years in prison (when others who were arguably guilty of less heinous crimes were hanged) but was released soon after imprisonment to help provide steel to and to bolster the economy of Western Europe in response to the Communist threat. From there he regained his empire only to loose it when the company went bust. Manchester is very good at showing how many Germans and others in the West chose to whiten Alfried's guilt by ignoring the Nuremberg record and by feeding misinformation.

My only complaints about the book are, firstly, that it is inordinately long. I think the book could have been at least 100-200 pp shorter. I really did wonder whether I was ever going to get through it. There are many occasions when he spends a great deal of time comparing, say Alfried's actions to those of his great grandfather Alfred - I found this a little wearing, especially since we can do that ourselves by looking back in the book. On the other hand the scholarly accumulation of fact by Manchester is very impressive and part of the power of the book. Secondly, having just said this about the excessive length, I really did feel that I missed having more technical information about the products that Krupp made. For example, Manchester talks about the howitzers that bombarded Paris in 1870, but the information about them is very hazy and the picture in the book of the 1918 Paris gun is not of the Paris gun at all (more a large railcar mounted naval weapon). Big Bertha's are covered, but I for one wanted to know more about them. The picture again is very uninformative (in fact it may not be one of them at all). There is talk of 88's, Panzers and Panthers, but we never see them or really get to grips with what was so feared about them. I think it is immediately obvious from reading the book that Manchester, although an exceptional historian, journalist and writer, is not an engineer and this is a shame bearing in mind the legendary nature of many of Krupp's products. An appendix of Krupp's most famous products would have been useful.

Basically though I would recommend this book to all who have a more than a casual interest in European history, but just be warned this is not something undertaken too lightly.

"The Arms Of Krupp" is the incredible biography of a powerful and incredibly rich and powerful family that was central in the advent and progress of European history for the more than four hundred years they presided as an almost imperial force within the boundaries of what is present-ay Germany. Certainly no other non-royal dynasty engenders such controversy and hotly expressed differences in opinion than does the multiple generations of this critically based family so critical to the development and technological capabilities of the German war machine. Of course, no one could do a better job at providing a definitive historical biography of the Krupp family than William Manchester. This is truly a magnificent book, a spellbinding story splendidly told by a master of English prose, rendered in a flawless, comprehensive, and objective treatment of this fascinating, often outrageous, and sometime imperious string of Krupp family member who ignited the wars raging in Europe in terms of their ability to provide the motherland with such complex, ingenious, and technically superior weapons of war.

This is, in fact, considered a masterwork of history, an eminently readable and elegantly stylish work by Manchester, a master of the trade. Manchester, a retired history professor at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, is widely regarded as one of this country's preeminent biographers and historian. The Krupp dynasty was extinguished in 1967, when the last surviving family member passed away. With his death the legacy of a four hundred year span of contribution to the European armaments industry came to an end, and so brought to a conclusion a tradition spanning wars and quite profoundly influencing outcomes of European history for centuries. The Krupp Arms conglomerate was technologically innovative, devising new weapons such as a superior cannon to an anti-air vehicle weapon designed to counter the reconnaissance capabilities of aerial observation balloons to exotic and much more capable submarines, which they then built for over four decades.

In so doing, they became fabulously rich, and rose to become extremely influential and exceedingly conservative voices within the realm of German political circles. No German leader could hope to marshal the resources or the weapons of war necessary to mount a military campaign without first gaining the trust, confidence and support of the Krupp family, which then cleverly and cynically manipulated this influence to vastly enrich themselves. During World War One, their cannons helped to flatten the French city of Verdun, and at one point succeeded in lobbing projectiles into Paris from as distant a location as some eighty miles away, an unheard-of innovation at the time. Aiding the Third Reich in its secret rearmament effort after the end of the First Word War, they provided a much advanced tank design that eventuated in the Panzer tank, used subsequently so successfully in Hitler's blitzkrieg through France in the summer of 1940.

They were quite influential within the German society as well, having armed the forces of Kaiser Wilhelm for battle before World War One, and then surreptitiously backed Hitler financially in the so-called terror-campaign" of 1933. Incredibly, the Krupps participated in the war crimes of the Third Reich, even controlling and operating more than 130 concentration camps during the war. Afterwards, they help to rebuild Europe in the eventual development of the European Common Market. This is a truly fascinating book written with all of the usual style and substance one come s to expect of William Manchester, and it is certainly a book I can highly recommend to anyone with an interest in European history. Enjoy!

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."

This book is a must read for anyone interested in a history of Germany. Not only does Manfield give an impressive story of the Krupp dynasty, but he also provides a broad history of the events that led to the unification of the German states, German international affairs, the interlocking relationship of German industry and government, a good history on the iron industry. The writing style is smooth and easy to read - Manfield also provides the translation of German words into English which is very important to readers not fluent in such a language - it seems that most other writers assume the reader to be fluent in French, Italian, German, Russian, etc. Don't be mistaken in thinking that this book is only about the history of Krupp - it is much more - it is an impressive work on the rise of the German Empire.

William Manchester is by far one of the finest historians of his generation and this work, along with Death of a President and American Caesar have rightly made him famous. The Arms of Krupps joins this pantheon of great works by doing what few historical works of the post war generation even attempt: provide judgement. Too often modern historians confuse moral and intellectual ambiguity with objectivity. Part of any good work of history is the author saying what he thinks, given what he has presented, about the men, women and events covered in the work. This does not mean hiding or distorting facts but presenting all the relevant information, making a case for a particular point, and letting the reader make up his, or her, own mind. Manchester does this, to cite one example, by demonstrating that contrary to popular opinion Alfried Krupp was indeed responsible for war crimes committed at Krupp works throught out Germany, and the occupied territories, during WWII. What is equally impressive is the sheer volume of facts the author summons to defend his positions, the Nuremberg Trial of Alfried Krupp alone comprises some 100 pages of this nearly thousand page work. Yet despite the sheer volume of information presented The Arms of Krupp is never boring. Manchester possess an almost magical ability to make even the dullest events seem interesting all the while weaving together people, events and anectdotes to give the reader a remarable perspective. In one memorable, and ironical incident, a concentration camp survivor finds herself working as a concierge at the occupied Krupp mansion in late 1945 and early 1946.

Seeing what this book was about, I thought it had no chance of holding my interest. However, once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. Manchester really makes this history read like a first class novel.

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.

Both of my copies were paperbacks. It doesn't matter if you're into family histories and gossip-esque intriguing stories that include lurid details of scandals and skeletons in the closet and generational issues, or if you might be into the history of feudal 16th century un-united black-forested Germany to the present, World War I or II, or for that matter, any other European war since Napoleon, power, greed, unbridled capitalism, or 20th century cold war politics and pragmatism, this book is for you. Take your pick; it's all included between these covers.

One wouldn't think it's possible for a subject as potentially dry as the story of the industrial refinement and production of crucible steel to read like a great novel, but Manchester has accomplished the seemingly impossible task in this nearly 1,000 page narrative. Once I got into it I couldn't put it down and it is a Wagnerian opus in and of itself. That Manchester uses the Teutonic legend of forging the mythical ring as a backdrop only adds to the vivid mental pictures this book creates from virtually the first page to the last, not all of which are by any means pleasant.

Krupp's (pronounced "krUpp" - with a "long" U, as I learned when I was in Essen, Germany which is Krupp's hometown) role as one of the great beneficiaries of Hitler's industrialized Germany and employer of slave labor during world war II is not ignored nor downplayed in the book. But one of my only criticisms is that you don't get a truly horrific picture of what actually went on in the Krupp slave shops from reading this book. If you're looking for holocaust statistics, they aren't here; save a few. For that however, there are plenty of other sources on Hitler's Nazi Germany and the treatment citizens it considered less-than-ideal to get a real-life picture of how tough the company was to work for, when SS guards held sway over shop managers. And even if the head if Die Firma was in total support of Hitler's military-industrial strategy (if only because a lot of Deutschmarks could be earned in the process). We've always known that Auschwitz, Poland in addition to being a death camp was a slave labor camp for Nazi Germany; for anyone who wasn't around at the time to realize it today, we learn here that the industrial works in which the slaves literally gave their lives and were worked to death were Krupp armaments factories. But the book does not paint an overly gross macabre picture of it, probably for the sake of staying on purpose of telling a well-established story (after 600 pages already) and out of respect for those who don't want to drown in details we already know the true horror of, and as I said are readily available elsewhere for anyone who has the stomach or the inclination to read more about that.

But for the first 60+% of the book where we see how this fascinating yet normal, alternately wealthy then poor then wealthy again, at times dysfunctional family politically maneuvered itself to equip Prussian and later German rulers with the finest armaments for over a century, as well as Germany's opponents who were busy fighting and killing Germany's own soldiers. (Krupp collected patent royalties from British armament firms that were making arms used against Germany; in effect, the firm was making money from supplying armaments to both sides of multiple wars.) Add to this making items for all sorts of domestic home use and manufacturing the seamless steel wheels for Pullman trains that were used to settle the American west in the 1800s. And finally, the company became a major player in virtually all of Europe and as far as far eastern Asia as an industrializing force. It is an incredible preamble to understanding how and why the few surviving German industrialists following World War I got behind Nazi politicians after World War I, when Germany was in a state of chaos, widespread economic depression and social upheaval that ultimately led to building the autobahns and arms of the emerging Third Reich into the mid-1930s.

Yet out of the ash-heap of the defeated Third Reich, like Prometheus rising, one reads how the family business survived as an economic asset for Allied-occupied postwar West Germany as the change in focus from de-Nazification to anti-communism unfolds as the late 1940s and 1950s progress, and then only to collapse as a family enterprise by 1967; 380 years after its beginning in a far different world.

Like I said, I enjoyed it so much I gave away the paperback I bought back about 1986 and the second identical copy I picked up in Paris in 1989. I now have the over-sized hardcover edition that I'll never part with. Knowing the story so well by now, it's an entertaining book to just pull off the shelf on an occasional sleepless night and arbitrarily pick a chapter anywhere within it to open up to. I find that within a couple pages I am instantly transported to another place and time ... 1600, 1700, 1800, 1880, 1917, 1940, 1955 ... which at any time couldn't possibly be any more different than what it is like to be living in the USA now in the 21st century.

The truth just might be stranger than fiction. Perhaps most of all is that a story about something as remote as steel fabrication can be FAR from boring. As one of of the book's initial reviewers said when it was first published, this isn't just the history of a family, it's the history of Germany.

The title suggests that the book conveys a history of the earlier part of the Krupps dynasty. However, there is virtually nothing. Nevertheless, this is a must read for those interested not only in WW 2 but in a business and family that reigned supreme for so many years.