The Order Of The Day | Éric Vuillard

"We never fall twice into the same abyss. But we always fall the same way, in a mixture of ridicule and dread".

In February 1933, Göring and Hitler invited 24 of Germany's top industrialists to the Reichstag to encourage them to donate to the Nazi party. The National Socialists were very pro-business, they were told, and the men, representing companies such as Siemens, Allianz, Bayer and Krupp, handed over millions of marks.

We are then taken to a meeting between Hitler and the Austrian Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg, where Hitler blackmails and intimidates von Schuschnigg, into giving up and accepting that Austria will now become part of the German Reich, an event known as the Anschluss.

Based on true historical facts but fictionalised, this book is a masterpiece of black comedy and satire. It's a book that could apply to today's world just as much as yesterday's. It's a timely reminder that history is often accidental, without a great master plan to follow.