Midnight in Chernobyl
Adam Higginbotham

The definitive account of what happened at Chernobyl and the book that was the source of much of what is in the HBO mini-series. A tick-tock of the most destruction nuclear meltdown in history. A story of massive corruption and incompetence in Soviet Russia. A chronicle of the destruction of thousands of people’s lives.

I’m a big fan of recent history written by journalist – the training to find the narrative, and get to the point, and get it right can, when done well lead to books that are fascinating and propulsive. This is one of those kind of books. Higginbotham is an excellent journalist and by and large he lets the deeply disturbing facts speak for themselves. The clearheaded way the tragedy is reported here makes it even more harrowing.

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