The Order of the Day
This slim volume is an icy history written with the deadly incisiveness of fiction – The Order of the Day is an amazing, disturbing, book. Across the span of five years – 1933 to 1938 – it leads us from a deceptively banal business meeting to the behind-the-scenes machinations that produced the seemingly unstoppable takeover of Austria by the Third Reich. Nothing is straightforward, little is as it seems, and banality is the deadliest weapon of all. You think you know World War II history because you watched the documentaries? This book will make you think again. And they’re not going to be comfortable thoughts.
Written with the precision of a poisoned scalpel (and the translator did a superb job), The Order of the Day manages to be timeless and all-too-timely. I recommend it most highly.
