Le verso de la jaquette indique: "For a long time, family-owned companies were considered a phase-out model. The future seemed to belong to the corporation with an anonymous shareholder structure. But there are numerous successful counterexamples, such as Bosch, C & A, Bertelsmann or Merck. How did the family manage to hold the company for over 13 generations, through all political upheavals and historical crises, making it a global leader in science and technology? Four distinguished company historians tell the fascinating story of Merck between 1668 and 2018 and embed it in the eventful course of world history."