I found this book shortly after watching the HBO series, "Chernobyl," and intrigued, I picked it up. The author has done his research, there are footnotes, a bibliography, photos of people who were instrumental to the disaster, and maps to help the reader solidify a sense of place and people. What the author does well is tie together the people, the land, the society, and the political response that gives perspective to what happened to those readers who remember the accident. For those who don't, he explains the how the political beast of Communist USSR affected the situation.

learning about history, particularly the story of Chernobyl, the people involved and how it affected a nation.

What I really enjoyed was the author's writing style. He made things easy to read and easy to understand. In order to understand what happened that made Chernobyl explode, the reader has to understand the workings of an RBMK reactor, which the author does a great job explaining so the author understands it.

watch the HBO series, "Chernobyl" again and compare notes.

it gave me perspective. I was a teenager in the US when it happened, so I remember it, but it gave me a lot of context.

did his research and it shows.

This is the type of book that will resonate with the reader long after they've finished it.

The author weaves personal stories which resonates with the reader. This is what kept me turning the the pages and wanting to find out what happens next. He also explained the "liquidation" steps, those actions taken to clean up the explosion. He explains how secrecy and lies of the political system played a role in the Soviet society in such a way the reader can understand. This a nice compliment to the HBO series.

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Created Jul 12, 2020 at 4:08pm • Submit your own review...