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The Order of the Day
The Order of the Day | Éric Vuillard
15 posts | 13 read | 5 to read
Winner of the 2017 Prix Goncourt, this behind-the-scenes account of the manipulation, hubris, and greed that together led to Nazi Germany's annexation of Austria brilliantly dismantles the myth of an effortless victory and offers a dire warning for our current political crisis. February 20, 1933: on an unremarkable day during a harsh Berlin winter, a meeting of twenty-four German captains of industry and senior Nazi dignitaries is being held in secret in the plush lounges of the Reichstag. They are there to "stump up" funding for the accession to power of the National Socialist Party and its fearsome Chancellor. This inaugural scene sets the tone of consent which will lead to the worst possible repercussions. March 12, 1938: the annexation of Austria is on the agenda and a grotesque day ensues that is intended to make history: the newsreels capture for eternity a motorized army, a terrible, inexorable power. But behind Goebbels's splendid propaganda, it is an ersatz Blitzkrieg which unfolds, the Panzers breaking down en mass on the roads of Austria. The true behind-the-scenes story of the Anschluss--a patchwork of minor shows of strength and fine words, a string of fevered telephone calls and vulgar threats--reveals a starkly different picture: it is no longer strength of character or the determination of a people that wins the day, but rather a combination of intimidation and bluff. With this vivid, compelling history, Éric Vuillard warns against the perils of willfully blind acquiescence, and offers a crucial reminder that, ultimately, the worst is not inescapable.
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review
Angeles
The Order of the Day | Éric Vuillard
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Pickpick

The cynic in me is not surprised by the contents of this book. "Follow the money" is always excellent advise for the skeptical observer of politics. Still, this is the most upsetting expose I've read in a long time. Smart, well written and depresing. It made me despair of humanity. This is not a book about Germany and world war II, but about all of us in Europe and really, in the world. It is not only about the past, that is what makes it scary.

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AnneCecilie
The Order of the Day | Éric Vuillard
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#MarchTBR

Wow, this is slightly more ambitious than I thought. In addition I‘m going to two author events later in the month, and I want to read the authors latest work when it‘s published

At the same time I‘m aware that The Women‘s Prize for Fiction 2020 Longlist is announced at midnight and that all my reading plans might change 🤪

#MarchMadness

Eggs Looks like March will be a huge reading month for you! 5y
AnneCecilie @Eggs It looked slightly more massive than I imagined 5y
48 likes2 comments
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TheEllieMo
The Order of the Day | Éric Vuillard
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#BookReport for last week:

The Road to Wigan Pier: interesting insight into working class life 80 years ago, while Orwell‘s thoughts on socialism show that little has changed in that political sphere.
Who Am I, Again: Lenny Henry‘s memoir up to age 20ish, unusual but telling format.
The Order of the Day: a timely reminder on how power corrupts.

Also snuck in 2 unplanned audiobook Phryne Fishers, always good for light relief.

Cinfhen Lots of #NonfictionNovember titles 🙌🻠5y
TheEllieMo @Cinfhen Gosh, yes, I didn‘t think I read much non-fiction, I hadn‘t signed up for #NonFictionNovember, perhaps I should! 5y
Cinfhen I‘m just using the hashtag but haven‘t officially “signed†up! 5y
TheEllieMo @Cinfhen good plan! 5y
38 likes4 comments
review
TheEllieMo
The Order of the Day | Éric Vuillard
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Pickpick

Whilst I am not wholly enamoured with this book, I do believe it to be a timely reminder of how we should not allow one person‘s charisma to take control, and of how duplicitous those with power can be, if they choose - in case anyone needed reminding of that these days...

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TheEllieMo
The Order of the Day | Éric Vuillard
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Eggs Like the soft light!! 5y
TheEllieMo @Eggs my reading light has 6 different settings, from very soft to very bright. The soft is nice and easy on the eye 5y
Eggs @TheEllieMo ðŸ‘ðŸ»ðŸ’—ðŸ‘🻠Where/how did you find it? 5y
TheEllieMo @Eggs Amazon UK LENCENT 7 LED Book Light, 3 Colors and 9 Brightness Modes (Warm & White LEDs) USB Rechargeable Clip Reading Light for Kids, Clip on Lamp Built in Battery for Book, Travel, etc [USB Cable Incl] https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07L33H72M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_3dxVDb4XRY3M8 5y
Eggs Thanks😻ðŸ‘ðŸ¼ðŸ¥° 5y
38 likes5 comments
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Verity
The Order of the Day | Éric Vuillard
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Pickpick

Clever but slightly terrifying in the way it draws parallels with the modern world. I‘m not quite well versed enough to know how many liberties have been taken with the timeline but I thought it worked really rather well.

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LTOC
The Order of the Day | Éric Vuillard
Pickpick

“I‘ve wondered if this was true or just a joke, a ghastly joke, invented by gloomy candlelightâ€

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mcctrish
The Order of the Day | Éric Vuillard
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Pickpick

We had SUN today so I gardened to celebrate, dividing up some hostas to make room for a new tree and I am excited! This book might be slim but it packs a lot in! It tells the story of how the Second World War came to be right under everybody‘s nose. There‘s a lesson to be learned

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mcctrish
The Order of the Day | Éric Vuillard
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Heading to Stratford ON to celebrate my father in law‘s 80th, being the introvert that I am I‘ve brought a book to read. There‘s about 28 of us travelling on a mini bus

19 likes1 stack add
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Eyejaybee
The Order of the Day | Éric Vuillard
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Sombre observations on the rise of Hitler‘s regime in Germany, and in particular on the path to Anschluss, and the annexation of Austria. See my Goodreads review at: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43092731-the-order-of-the-day. #ericvuillard #theorderoftheday #book #books #reading #booksbooksbooks #bookphotography #bookcommunity #booknerd #dauntbooks #currentlyreading #secondworldwar #anschluss #history #politics #appeasement

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slaroque
The Order of the Day | Éric Vuillard
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Eric Vuillard on describing the news of Germany's invasion of Austria handed to Chamberlain while dining With Churchill and Ribbentrop: "The brain is an airtight organ. Our eyes do not give away our thoughts, and imperceptible changes of expression are illegible to others. It's as if our entire body were a poem that consumed us, but of which our neighbors didn't understand a word." "The Order of the Day," p. 80.

slaroque Reviewed "The Order of the Day" on the LibraryThing http://www.librarything.com/work/19634024/reviews/161718507_350196973 6y
4 likes1 comment
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Mownab
The Order of the Day | Éric Vuillard
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“We never fall twice into the same abyss, but se always fall in the same way, in a mixture of ridicule and dreadâ€

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QuintusMarcus
The Order of the Day | Éric Vuillard
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Pickpick

Absolutely brilliant novel. Vuillard picks up the Anschluss with tongs, and oh so carefully, with Gallic wit and precision, dissects the event minute by minute. The novel is utterly gripping, revealing, and ultimately, brutally disheartening: the story begins and ends with an examination of the German business leaders (Krupp, Siemens, Opel, etc., all well known modern enterprises) who facilitated the Nazis and walked away unharmed.

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MeikeReads
The Order of the Day | Éric Vuillard
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Mehso-so

Vuillard received the most important Prize for French literature for his book on the rise of Hitler. By highlighting singular instances and describing little vignettes, he dissects a major catastrophe into a multitude of failures which add up to WWII and the holocaust. Still, I was a little underwhelmed, maybe because the last novel about the Nazis that won the Goncourt, Binet's "HHhH", was much more daring and intense.

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humannja
The Order of the Day | Éric Vuillard

You are reading Vuillard when there is only sardonical laughter left to bear with history. Brillant comment about german industry in support of Hitler 1933 and the Annexation of Austria five years later.

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