The Arms of Krupp

Why it’s on the list: Twelve generations of the Krupp family of Essen — cast steel, artillery, both world wars, the slave labour, the Nuremberg conviction and the post-war restoration. A four-century corporate biography, and the standard case study of a firm entangled with a state.

Where I heard about it

• @WillManidis’s thread — a reply to his question “what is the single best book you can read that will explain an entire industry?” in the thread, June 2025. The full list of replies lives on what is the single best book… (tweet).

Connections

• what is the single best book… (tweet) — the thread this came out of; the full recovered list lives there.
• Manufacturing — the industry.
• World War II — the firm’s worst chapter.