Midnight in Chernobyl

The Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster

By: Adam Higginbotham

Narrated by: Jacques Roy

One of AudioFile’s Best Audiobooks of 2019!

A New York Times Best Book of the Year
A Time Best Book of the Year
A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Year
2020 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence Winner

From journalist Adam Higginbotham, the New York Times bestselling “account that reads almost like the script for a movie” (The Wall Street Journal)—a powerful investigation into Chernobyl and how propaganda, secrecy, and myth have obscured the true story of one of the history’s worst nuclear disasters.

Early in the morning of April 26, 1986, Reactor Number Four of the Chernobyl Atomic Energy Station exploded, triggering one of the 20th century’s greatest disasters. In the thirty years since then, Chernobyl has become lodged in the collective nightmares of the world: shorthand for the spectral horrors of radiation poisoning, for a dangerous technology slipping its leash, for ecological fragility, and for what can happen when a dishonest and careless state endangers its citizens and the entire world. But the real story of the accident, clouded from the beginning by secrecy, propaganda, and misinformation, has long remained in dispute.

Drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews conducted over the course of more than ten years, as well as letters, unpublished memoirs, and documents from recently-declassified archives, Adam Higginbotham brings the disaster to life through the eyes of the men and women who witnessed it firsthand. The result is a “riveting, deeply reported reconstruction” (Los Angeles Times) and a definitive account of an event that changed history: a story that is more complex, more human, and more terrifying than the Soviet myth.

“The most complete and compelling history yet” (The Christian Science Monitor), Higginbotham’s “superb, enthralling, and necessarily terrifying...extraordinary” (The New York Times) book is an indelible portrait of the lessons learned when mankind seeks to bend the natural world to his will—lessons which, in the face of climate change and other threats, remain not just vital but necessary.

Critic reviews

"Jacques Roy's nuanced performance of Higginbotham's harrowing audiobook keeps listeners deeply engaged. . . . Roy's masterful narration enhances this stark and terrifying account of one of the worst disasters in human history."

Amazing Book

I am old enough to remember this disaster. However, like many in the West I only gave it passing attention at the time. The author did a great job of putting together an excellent chronology of the events leading up to the disaster, the actual events of the the day, and then the extensive aftermath via great research and interviews. I found the author's telling of the stories of the people involved to be the best aspect of the book. He put a real human face on it. The thousands of people who worked risking and often giving their lives to contain the disaster, are real heroes the world should know about.

A detailed account of the Chernobyl accident

A detailed account of the Chernobyl accident and the aftermath.

I found the story of the individual members a little confusing because of the large number of Russian names. I think this may be easier to follow with text. The story was compelling and I learnt a lot of new details about the accident which I thought I was familiar with before.

The most interesting revelations for me were the details of the design of the reactor and how unstable it was under certain circumstances. I had assumed operator error but there were scenarios where the reaction could become unstable under fairly normal operation. Even the operators knew it was treacherous compared to other reactors that they had worked on.

Coverups, corruption, bad design, bad workmanship all played a part. Over all it is a good read for both pro and antinuclear readers as the dangers are well explained.

Frightening

One of the most frightening books I've ever read. The arrogance and stupidity that lead to so many deaths is almost as scary as the accident itself.

How does an RBMK reactor explode? Lies.

I watched the HBO miniseries that reignited my fascination with Chernobyl. This book is as horrifying, heartbreaking and the courage and heroism of everyday citizens who rose to the challenge given by the very government who lied to them is worth a credit by itself.

Intrigued By the HBO/Sky Series? Listen To This.

Thanks to the 2019 HBO/Sky miniseries that shares its name, the 1986 nuclear accident involving the Soviet-built RBMK reactor number four near Chernobyl in Ukraine has re-entered the popular consciousness. Nearly two generations on, though, it's an event that has already begun the slide into history, not to mention clouded by secrecy and disinformation from the last years of the Cold War. Adam Higginbotham's Midnight in Chernobyl brings the incredible events surrounding reactor number four to life, from its construction to the accident to the still ongoing work to "liquidate" the results of the world's worst nuclear disaster. With a mix of technical details with human moments of triumph and tragedy, deadly seriousness with moments that wouldn't be out of place in a black comedy satire, Higginbotham paints those events with vivid details and a wide cast of characters. All brought together in an immensely readable form that, be the reader a history/science buff or intrigued by the aforementioned HBO/Sky miniseries, offers fresh perspectives on an incredible event and is everything a good non-fiction read ought to be.