• Chernobyl 01:23:40

  • The Incredible True Story of the World's Worst Nuclear Disaster
  • By: Andrew Leatherbarrow
  • Narrated by: Michael Page
  • Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (987 ratings)

Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.
Chernobyl 01:23:40  By  cover art

Chernobyl 01:23:40

By: Andrew Leatherbarrow
Narrated by: Michael Page
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $19.95

Buy for $19.95

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

At 01:23:40 on April 26th 1986, Alexander Akimov pressed the emergency shutdown button at Chernobyl's fourth nuclear reactor. It was an act that forced the permanent evacuation of a city, killed thousands, and crippled the Soviet Union. The event spawned decades of conflicting, exaggerated, and inaccurate stories.

This book, the result of five years of research, presents an accessible but comprehensive account of what really happened - from the desperate fight to prevent a burning reactor core from irradiating eastern Europe, to the self-sacrifice of the heroic men who entered fields of radiation so strong that machines wouldn't work, to the surprising truth about the legendary "Chernobyl diver", all the way through to the USSR's final show-trial. The historical narrative is interwoven with a story of the author's own spontaneous journey to Ukraine's still-abandoned city of Pripyat and the wider Chernobyl Zone.

©2016 Andrew Leatherbarrow (P)2016 Tantor
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

What listeners say about Chernobyl 01:23:40

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    490
  • 4 Stars
    314
  • 3 Stars
    140
  • 2 Stars
    25
  • 1 Stars
    18
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    506
  • 4 Stars
    239
  • 3 Stars
    97
  • 2 Stars
    18
  • 1 Stars
    13
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    452
  • 4 Stars
    252
  • 3 Stars
    120
  • 2 Stars
    34
  • 1 Stars
    14

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Lost in his own navel

What disappointed you about Chernobyl 01:23:40?

There is a great and tragic story to be told here. Pieces of it shine through, but they are tangled in a bewilderingly banal narrative of self that utterly distracts from the story.

What does Michael Page bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Michael Page valiantly struggled with shoddy material; I have no fault with his performance.

What character would you cut from Chernobyl 01:23:40?

The Author!

Any additional comments?

There is a grand tradition of using one's personal interaction with historical events as a lens for understanding the story and significance of those events. For an example of how this can be done in a way that enhances the story, see Norman Maclean's "Young Men and Fire," the story of the Mann Gulch fire that killed a smoke jumper team, as well as Norman Maclean's personal effort to come to understand that story. Maclean manages to weave these narrative threads into something greater than either would have been on their own.
I think this is what Andrew Leatherbarrow sought to do, weaving the story of the Chernobyl disaster together with the story of how he came to be on a tour of the site, and how that affected him. Sadly, Leatherbarrow's personal narrative is self-indulgent, boring, and really does not touch on the events of April 26, 1986. Instead, we are treated to a series of regretful chapters about not being able to compose camera shots, being rude to Ukrainian workers, and pedestrian descriptions of what must have been a haunting panorama. We learn more about Leatherbarrow's angst than about Chernobyl.
The chapters where he deals with the accident itself are incisive, interesting and filled with the sense of how inevitable some tragedy was. These are well enough written to rescue my rating from a one star. But, it is telling that, having fallen asleep for the last half an hour of the book, I did not feel the need to go back and listen again.
Save your credits, this one's not a good buy.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

59 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Modern Trip to Chernobyl Almost Ruins a Great Book

First off: the author does a fantastic job of making the science and history come alive. The physics are easy enough for any high school grad, the people are fleshed out wonderfully, and the whole story is clear and interesting... Except he insists on breaking up there story by interspersing each chapter with a chapter describing his own trip to Chernobyl. I'm sorry, but it just goes on too long! I want to get back to the good parts, not hear about your traveling buddies! It would have been great as a single chapter to put the history in perspective, but it's just too much. Reader is consistently great though! Worth a listen, but if you find the modern chapters as frustrating as me, skip them. It's worth a listen even without them.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

31 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

A Historical Account with An Unnecessary Travelogue

So much potential! I was so excited for this book, I read everything I can about Chernobyl, but was so disappointed when half the book ended up being about the author's trip. It felt like I was trapped in a room with a friend who shows me an insanely long winded slideshow presentation of their latest vacation...in short, not the desired feeling from a historical novel. :(

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Outstanding Listen and Read

I thoroughly enjoyed this title and would highly recommend to anyone who wants a better understanding of the actual events of the Chernobyl Power Station as they happened told in a well researched very accessible way. I was fascinated by the book and in fact also ended up getting the ebook which makes the research citations easier to follow.

The author is a very experienced urban explorer and his account of traveling to and photographing Pripyat was both entertaining and informative. Leatherbarrow does not claim to be a scientist or that this is a scientific overview of events but it is very well documented and allows those of us who have an interest in this area without a science background to gain a better understanding of the event.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Was Leatherbarrow getting paid by the word?

What disappointed you about Chernobyl 01:23:40?

I do not care about Leatherbrow's insecurity about writing about the subject matter or his problem with coming up with cash to get to Chernobyl.

What could Andrew Leatherbarrow have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Removed the details of his life from it and talk about the subject matter.

What about Michael Page’s performance did you like?

That was ok.

What character would you cut from Chernobyl 01:23:40?

Details of Adam Leatherbrow's life.

Any additional comments?

Going to try to return it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Maybe better as a physical copy

I enjoyed the parts of this book that were about the actual events of Chernobyl. Very informative and interesting, but it doubles almost as a travelogue that I would probably have appreciated more with a tangible book. When the chapters switch from the past historical information over to the present-day author's journey, it frustrated me from a listening perspective. Definitely worth a read, but only worth half a listen. Good narration.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

OMG wordy

This guy likes to hear himself talk.

I wanted info on Chernobyl. I did not feel like a cheap rendition of a travel itinerary sprinkled with some facts.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good detail, quiet good physics

I liked the book. Their are a whole lot of details in it regarding the accident, convering the before, the during and the after.
I am nuclear engineer, I think it is safe to say that the physics the author uses to explain the accident is straight, simply explained, and correctly detailed (not too much, and not too few)
The author seemed to have been young when he did his travel to Chernobyl, and did not seem to be an experienced traveler at the time. Hence, he shares his meaningless experiences about his trip that the reader quiet frankly does not care about (I remember for example 5 minutes of blaberring about how hard it is to shoot gun). but we are talking about here only 10 to 15% of the book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

It’s not worth it.

The narrator is terrible. Usually I like a British accent but this guy was just annoying and kept referring to Cher-no-bill. As for the book it was ok. It’s funny how the author bashes other authors for giving their opinions in historical books but literally within 5 min is doing the same himself. He gives a lot of numbers and sounds at times like he’s writing more of a journal entry about a trip to summer camp except that summer camp happens to be in one of the most inhospitable places on earth. But there’s all kinds of references to him and his little posse of friends walking around Pripyat and the Chernobyl factory taking pictures and how they’ve all got experience as “urban explorers” whatever the f%#k that means, though it sounds a lot like a nice word for trespassing in abandoned places. It’s ok for a first book but it just seems more like as I said a journal mixed with a term paper citing a lot of other people’s work.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

So glad you wrote your book!

I found the whole book quite fascinating, but the biggest impression I was left with was how daunting, long term and expensive even a small nuclear accident can be. If extreme care isn’t taken on the front end of the design, a nuclear accident can disrupt a whole country’s economy for generations of cleanup, and that’s not even taking into account the destroyed lives and environment. Wow.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful