Midnight in Chernobyl - Adam Higginbotham

Midnight in Chernobyl

By Adam Higginbotham

  • Release Date: 2019-02-12
  • Genre: History
4.5 Score: 4.5 (From 754 Ratings)

Description

A New York Times Best Book of the Year
A Time Best Book of the Year
A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Year
2020 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence Winner
One of NPR’s Best Books of 2019

Journalist Adam Higginbotham’s definitive, years-in-the-making account of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster—and a powerful investigation into how propaganda, secrecy, and myth have obscured the true story of one of the twentieth century’s greatest disasters.

Early in the morning of April 26, 1986, Reactor Number Four of the Chernobyl Atomic Energy Station exploded, triggering history’s worst nuclear disaster. In the thirty years since then, Chernobyl has become lodged in the collective nightmares of the world: shorthand for the spectral horrors of radiation poisoning, for a dangerous technology slipping its leash, for ecological fragility, and for what can happen when a dishonest and careless state endangers its citizens and the entire world. But the real story of the accident, clouded from the beginning by secrecy, propaganda, and misinformation, has long remained in dispute.

Drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews conducted over the course of more than ten years, as well as letters, unpublished memoirs, and documents from recently-declassified archives, Adam Higginbotham has written a harrowing and compelling narrative which brings the disaster to life through the eyes of the men and women who witnessed it firsthand. The result is a masterful nonfiction thriller, and the definitive account of an event that changed history: a story that is more complex, more human, and more terrifying than the Soviet myth.

Midnight in Chernobyl is an indelible portrait of one of the great disasters of the twentieth century, of human resilience and ingenuity, and the lessons learned when mankind seeks to bend the natural world to his will—lessons which, in the face of climate change and other threats, remain not just vital but necessary.

Reviews

  • Too notch read

    5
    By Rememberthepast
    Excellent portrayal of ussr life and how it affects/affected decisions, especially in the 1980s. I lived in W Germany in 1983 and visited E/W Berlin. The attitudes were just like the book portrays.. I never realized the impact Chernobyl played on in hastening the effects of communistic governance.
  • Midnight in Chernobyl

    5
    By Wanderer1077
    This is a very good book on the events leading up to and after the disaster.
  • Amazing Read

    5
    By Maxwell Rock
    Incredible book delivering a nearly minute by minute account of the events that occurred during the Chernobyl meltdowns—yet it’s one of the fastest-paced books I can recall reading. Really enjoyed it and a little sad it’s over.
  • Excellent

    5
    By Billy in Vermont
    Thorough and complete historical narrative of the disaster. Worth reading. Page turner.
  • Stellar!

    5
    By miniski80
    Simply stellar! I was completely engrossed from the beginning to end! I highly recommend this book!
  • Fantastic Book

    5
    By Critic 1954
    Very detailed perspective of what really happened at Chernobyl. A chilling read.
  • Fascinating

    4
    By md5152
    This account of the Chernobyl nuclear accident reads like a novel. It is gripping from start to finish
  • Suspenseful and Enlightening — A Great Read!

    5
    By RobMSF
    As soon as I finished this book, I couldn't wait to go back and re-read parts of it. This is a totally engaging read. I see that some reviewers found it too technical; I didn't think that was the case at all, and I don't even have a science background. In fact, I was inspired to dig into Wikipedia and learn more about nuclear reactors, isotopes, radioactivity ... you name it. This is one of the best non-fiction works I've read in a good while. You won't want to put it down!

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