For the first time in Trade Paperback the massive, compelling book in which William Manchester brings to life Europe's richest, most powerful family, a 400-year dynasty that armed Germany in three major wars. Their cannon won the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. In 1871 they invented the first anti-aircraft gun to shoot down observation balloons. In WWI their mammoth weapons shelled Paris at a range of 81 miles. For 40 years they manufactured submarines, beginning with the U-1 that menaced Allied shipping. In 1940 their cannon actually shelled England from across the channel. The Krupps armed the forces of the Kaiser and financed Hitler's 'Terror Election' of 1933. Hitler honoured their loyalty by decreeing special tax exemptions that continued to bind a post-war West Germany. The Krupps even survived a Nuremberg conviction to become the dynamo behind the 'Common Market'.

威廉•曼彻斯特（William Manchester）（1922—2004），美国著名史学家、作家。在五十多年的写作生涯中,一共写了18本书，其中有记述欧洲中世纪和美国20世纪中期的通俗历史作品，传记作品包括H.L.门肯、道格拉斯•麦克阿瑟将军、洛克菲勒家族等传记，还有４本小说以及一本二战回忆录。代表作有《光荣与梦想——1932~1972年美国社会实录》《总统之死》《最后的雄狮》《再见，黑暗》等