The Order of the Day

The Order of the Day

by Mark Polizzotti (Translator), Mark Polizzotti (Translator), Eric Vuillard (Author)

Synopsis

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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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 160
Edition: Main Market
Publisher: Picador
Published: 10 Jan 2019

ISBN 10: 1509889965
ISBN 13: 9781509889969

Media Reviews
A magnetic raconteur - somehow both intimate and unforgiving - Vuillard shows us that history is made not by ideas, but far worse, by people. 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 book whose staggering power lies in its simplicity. * Le Monde *
A powerful story you read in one go, with astonishment and dread. * La Presse *
Just brilliant. [ . . . ] Vuillard shows what literature is capable of in its moments of greatness: a lightening-like transformation of a tired, old, and far too often told story into a shocking new narrative. * Der Spiegel *
Brief and striking . . . history behind the scenes. * L'Express *
Snatched from oblivion, these scenes spring to life in our minds like a jack-in-the-box. * Le Figaro Litteraire *
Author Bio
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.