A Small Circus — Hans Fallada

A small German town edges into fascism in a novel by the bestselling author of Alone in Berlin

It is the summer of 1929, and in Altholm, Germany, a storm is brewing -- a local political resistance that could be valuable to Max Tredup. Max, a shabby, unprincipled reporter working for the Chronicle, Altholm's failing newspaper, is leading a precarious and hungry existence when he takes some potentially damning photographs. Sold to the right bidder, he could make a fortune. While he contemplates his next move, the town is buzzing. Farmers are plotting their revenge against greedy officials, a mysterious traveling salesman is stirring up trouble, and the Nazi party grows stronger as the Communists fight them in the street. And all the while, Altholm's oppressive mayor, who's doing everything in his power to seek the easy life, is involved in a conspiracy of schemes of his own. With the town rapidly slipping into chaos, tensions mount between workers and bosses, town and country, and left and right. As alliances are broken, bribes are taken, and plots are hatched, a shocking act of violence is all it takes to push Altholm over the edge. From the brilliant mind of one of Germany's most celebrated writers, A SMALL CIRCUS gives us front-row seats to Germany's decade-long quest for a sacrificial scapegoat that culminated in the Nazi takeover (The Independent).