Midnight in Chernobyl

The story of Chernobyl is more complex, more human, and more terrifying than the Soviet myth. Adam Higginbotham brings the 1986 disaster to life through the eyes of the men and women who witnessed it firsthand, drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews conducted over the course of more than ten years, as well as letters, unpublished memoirs, and documents from recently-declassified archives.

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 not only its own citizens, but all of humanity. It is a story that has long remained in dispute, clouded from the beginning in secrecy, propaganda, and misinformation.

Midnight in Chernobyl is a harrowing and compelling narrative and a masterful non-fiction thriller. It is an indelible portrait of history's worst nuclear disaster, of human resilience and ingenuity, with lessons that remain vital in the face of climate change and other threats. Now, Higginbotham brings readers closer to the truth behind this colossal tragedy.