Industry and Ideology: I. G. Farben in the Nazi Era

The power of big business in the Third Reich economy remains one of the most important issues of that disastrous era. Drawing on prodigious research in German corporate and government archives, Peter Hayes argues that the IG Farben chemicals combine, Nazi Germany’s largest corporation, proved unable to influence national policy outside the firm’s sphere of expertise. Indeed, the most infamous aspects of Nazi policy occurred despite IG Farben’s advocacy of alternative courses of action. Nonetheless, Farben grew rich under the Nazi regime and was directly involved in some of its greatest crimes. This edition has a new preface that incorporates new developments and research in the field.