The Order of the Day - Softcover

Vuillard, Eric

3.9

10,385 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1529001471 ISBN 13: 9781529001471

Publisher: Picador, 2018

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Winner of the 2017 Prix Goncourt Eric Vuillard's gripping novel The Order of the Day tells the story of the pivotal meetings which took place between the European powers in the run-up to World War Two. What emerges is a fascinating and incredibly moving account of failed diplomacy, broken relationships, and the catastrophic momentum which led to conflict. The titans of German industry - set to prosper under the Nazi government - gather to lend their support to Adolf Hitler. The Austrian Chancellor realizes too late that he has wandered into a trap, as Hitler delivers the ultimatum that will lay the groundwork for Germany's annexation of Austria. Winston Churchill joins Neville Chamberlain for a farewell luncheon held in honour of Joachim von Ribbentrop: German Ambassador to England, soon to be Foreign Minister in the Nazi government, and future defendant at the Nuremberg trials. Suffused with dramatic tension, this unforgettable novel tells the tragic story of how the actions of a few powerful men brought the world to the brink of war.

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Review:

Snatched from oblivion, these scenes spring to life in our minds like a jack-in-the-box. * Le Figaro Litteraire * Brief and striking . . . history behind the scenes. * L'Express * Just brilliant. [ . . . ] Vuillard shows what literature is capable of in its moments of greatness: a lightning-like transformation of a tired, old, and far too often told story into a shocking new narrative. * Der Spiegel * A powerful story you read in one go, with astonishment and dread. * La Presse * A book whose staggering power lies in its simplicity. * Le Monde * Beautifully and economically crafted . . . The Order of the Day is a stark examination of the price of silence, the cost of sticking to the rules to keep the peace, and the human toll when ruling elites not only go along to get along, but support the ravings of a violent and vengeful leader. * Millions * Offering us a seat at the jolly lunches and country retreats where a handful of men condemned their nations to unthinkable slaughter, The Order of the Day is a powerful warning that cowardice saves no one, not even the coward. -- Alex Christofi, author of Glass A chilling, gripping novel - it takes a number of key moments in the run-up to the Second World War and uses tremendous skill and verve to dramatize hours and minutes in which often quite ordinary men took decisions that would destroy whole nations. -- Simon Winder, author of Germania Gripping . . . The method of [The Order of the Day] is to peel away the veils of dissimulation, disguise and self-justification that conspire to make historical disasters appear as just the way things happen. * Wall Street Journal * Remarkable . . . It captures the bizarre blend of wishful thinking, clownish self-importance, and cold calculation that characterized many of the Nazis' powerful enablers. * New Yorker * A thoroughly gripping and mesmerising work of black comedy and political disaster. It seems designed single-mindedly to remind us that, as it says, "Great catastrophes often creep up on us in tiny steps. * Guardian *

About the Author:

Eric Vuillard is a writer and filmmaker born in Lyon in 1968 who has written nine award-winning books, including Conquistadors (winner of the 2010 Prix Ignatius J. Reilly), and La bataille d'Occident and Congo (both of which received the 2012 Prix Franz-Hessel and the 2013 Prix Valery-Larbaud). He won the 2017 Prix Goncourt, France's most prestigious literary prize, for L'ordre du Jour.

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