Chernobyl

This brilliant historian has written a classic account of the Chernobyl disaster, the 20th century's most fearful nuclear news event. Serhii Ploky's book reads like a thriller, with detailed and informative knowledge of the former Soviet Union, the Ukraine, and the design flaws of the Russian RBMK reactor, which was rejected in the West, as well as the people and human errors that combined to create an explosive meltdown of Unit 4. Dr. Ploky's incredible book must be read in conjunction with the HBO/UK 5-part video series, which is now available as a multi-disc set at Netflix.

This account of the tragic incident that caused one of the greatest nuclear power plant meltdowns and consequences are still being told. This book gives a great comprehensive account of that time.

Well written, easy to read history book, with engaging personal stories that bring you into the moment.

great detail and insight. I have done a ton of investigation into this devastating catastrophe but found new insight with this book. I recommend buying!

The best book on this disaster both in detail of the event and in analysis of its aftermath.

Good, balanced account without a lot of "politics." Background, event description and follow-up. In all, a very sad story, but one we must keep in mind.

Interesting, thoroughly researched and well-written—reads almost like a novel.

Exactly as described

As luck would have it, right about as I was finishing “Chernobyl” yesterday, I was invited to dine with my friend Gleb’s daddy, Peter, a veteran of the Ministry of Medium Machine Building, the innocuous name Beria allegedly chose for the Soviet equivalent of the Manhattan Project.With author Serhii Plokhy’s conclusions fresh in my mind, I put the question to him: who was to blame for Chernobyl? He did not hesitate: “culture” he answered. When the political decision was made to transfer responsibility for the nuclear reactors from their creators to the Ministry of Energy and Electrification, the authorities failed to also transfer the zero tolerance culture that had prevailed amongst the originators of the program.Perhaps that’s an oversimplification and perhaps it’s a case of one man talking his book, but it’s an interpretation that I’m prepared to believe, because the one biggest shock you get from reading this well-researched tome is culture shock:“Chernobyl” transports you from our world to the Soviet Union, a dark place where your personal target is to get promoted and your most important imperative is to make your boss look good.To make him look good, in turn, your best option is to put pressure on whatever resources you have under your command. And if to make him look good you need to execute a testing procedure under imperfect conditions, well, so be it.The book is a lot about people: you get to meet all the men in the control room, the firefighters who made the ultimate sacrifice, the scientists and the cleaners. You meet the twin bosses of the plant (both the scientist and --alarm bells!—the builder) the local head of the party, the KGB, the military, pretty much everybody up to Mikhail Gorbachev.There’s heroes and villains here and the heroes are invariably tragic heroes: from the simple men who picked up with their bare hands the radioactive graphite bars that flew out of the exploding reactor to the scientists who ran toward danger in reactor 4 to the men and women who sailed as close as possible to their mandate when advocating evacuation, these were people who put their self-interest second. The villains come in two flavors: those (Gorbachev included!) who jumped to protect the system, and largely paid for it, and those who had a knack for sailing with the wind.Watching the latter shift from singing the praises of nuclear energy to becoming advocates of the environment and national sovereignty and from there back to arguing for energy sufficiency is probably the most sickening part of the book, roentgens and rems notwithstanding.But this is a comprehensive book: you find out about the reactor, its operators, the politics of the country it was built in, the mechanics of the explosion, the frantic efforts to control the fallout, the tragic effect on the neighboring population, and ultimately Chernobyl’s profound effect on the politics of the Ukraine and the Soviet Union itself.The conclusion is that Chernobyl made a decisive contribution toward ending the Soviet Union.I must say I was convinced.

This is an interesting and well written account of the events that led up to, and occurred during, the Chernobyl disaster. The fact that you're reading this review means that you're likely to know something about the catastrophic nuclear accident that occurred on 25–26 April 1986 (when the No. 4 reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded). This accident was a major event in modern world history. It certainly affected those living near the nuclear reactor (as the city of Pripyat, in the north of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Ukraine, was evacuated - and still remains uninhabited). And a cloud of radioactive smoke drifted across much of north western Europe. Globally, the risks associated with nuclear power became increasingly debated … and the accident contributed to the collapse of the USSR (and, with it, the end of the Cold War). This book explores in detail what went on during the night of the 25th-26th April - when an ill-conceived test on the reactor went so very wrong.There are plenty of books that deal with the disaster. What makes this one stand out is: first, it draws on recently released classified documents, which provide hitherto withheld information; and second, it's written in an accessible manner. While the author is a professor of history, this book is not an academic text - rather, it's intended for a popular audience. It provides a thorough account of the accident - and engages with first-hand reports provided by those personnel who were there at the time.If you're fascinated by Chernobyl, I recommend this book.

A pacey, entertaining reminder of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine from the 1980’s. The world didn’t end, but some of the “could haves” are truly shocking and the thing itself was bad enough.Most interesting are the detailed timeline of what, who and when. Equally compelling is the story of those at the top trying to manage or bury bad news and how that backfired.The bone-headed stupidity of some of the officials contrasts nicely with moving heroism of the many workers and military who were sent into the radioactivity to clear up the mess.Just a few times the narrative rambles on a bit and to an unpracticed English reader (sorry) the sheer number and complexity of Russian or Ukrainian names can be hard to keep track of.I learned a lot and was entertained along the way.

This book is a fascinating, but worrying, account of the Chernobyl disaster. The author has clearly thoroughly researched all aspects of what happened, - both before, during, and after the reactor explosion.Some of the history takes a bit of absorbing on account of the Russian names, but that is a relatively minor concern.The technical description of the events leading up to, and after, the disaster is presented clearly. What happened at Chernobyl is made very clear indeed.The only minor criticism that I have is that it would have helped to have included photographs of the reactors before and after the event. There are plenty of these photos that apear to be in the public domain.

This is by far one of the best books ive read in a long time.I first discovered about this book after reading an extract and review printed in the Times newspaper. The writing style is excellent and it provides such a wonderful insight into what happened on that fearful night in april 86.I have prased this book to many friends and colleagues!The RRP from the Times was £20.00 but i was more than pleased when i saw it on amazon for £14 for hard back.Truly an excellent read!