2020 Reading Challenge: a book on a topic you know nothing about

[baronessekat]

Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster by Adam Higginbotham

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I was 13 when the Chernobyl nuclear power plant melted. I remember it being on the news but just a statement or two. Not much. But that was at the height of the cold war so there wasn't much news coming out of the USSR. I remember later hearing that they had to evacuate the surrounding area and that no one would be allowed to move back and live there - like ever. And that is pretty much all I knew about the incident.

Until I picked up this book. Wow. I found it deeply engrossing and terrifying. Now, looking back at the incident, 34 years later, you can see how much of this man-made disaster could have been mitigated (if not avoided) if it had not been for pure and strong Soviet hubris. Officials refusing to listen to the boots on the ground saying they didn't know what they were talking about, that they are mixing up rad and millirad and just plain "we are too good for this to have happened" - it is staggering.

This book is categorized as a History book but I think it would also easily be classified as a True Crime. Because frankly, that's what this was. It may have been accidental in many ways, but it was also criminal and many people went to jail for it (though not necessarily the ones who should have).

This book was also enhanced by Jacques Roy's reading of it. Because of this book I fully intend to binge the HBO miniseries on this incident.



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