Kronecker classes of fields and covering subgroups of finite groups

Kronecker classes of algebraci number fields were introduced by W. Jehne in an attempt to understand the extent to which the structure of an extension K: k of algebraic number fields was influenced by the decomposition of primes of k over K. He found an important link between Kronecker equivalent field extensions and a certain covering property of their Galois groups. This surveys recent contributions of Group Theory to the understanding of Kronecker equivalence of algebraic number fields. In particular some group theoretic conjectures related to the Kronecker class of an extension of bounded degree are explored.