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just_like_jason's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
3.5
The elephant's foot!
leontyna's review against another edition
dark
informative
slow-paced
4.0
It reads like a well researched book, with lots of annotations and an extensive bibliography. The style was quite dry at times but I guess it's to be expected from nonfiction. I would have loved to have more details about health effects of the catastrophe but I guess it's a subject for another book and as the author mentioned lots of documeiis missing or falsified. Overall an interesting read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Death, and Cancer
slvrdragon1090's review against another edition
4.0
This was amazing and horrifying. I’ve heard of Chernobyl, most people have. I’ve watched the HBO miniseries for it as well and I’m glad I did prior to reading this book. There is so much information here that watching the series first helped me visualize what was happening. The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars is because at least 15% of the science went straight over my head! Extremely well written though.
book_hound_ross's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.25
mcloonejack's review against another edition
5.0
It’s hard to balance this kind of intricate political history, science knowledge and human stories in one book with any sort of brevity or clarity, but Higginbotham managed to do both.
This is an incredibly engaging read that refuses to get bogged down. It captures the chaos of the time incredibly well. It lets those at fault hoist themselves as opposed to making too many judgments on its own, which I sometimes feels like a bit of a cop out but in these hands works very well.
This is an incredibly engaging read that refuses to get bogged down. It captures the chaos of the time incredibly well. It lets those at fault hoist themselves as opposed to making too many judgments on its own, which I sometimes feels like a bit of a cop out but in these hands works very well.
kendra406's review against another edition
5.0
The best book I've read in a long time, and I learned so much about a topic for which I knew very little. It's well-written, extensively researched, and just fascinating. Go read this one!
goddessssssssss's review against another edition
medium-paced
4.0
A very well researched account of the disaster and the remediation efforts that followed. If you want a good overview of what took place and how it affected the lives of those involved I would recommend.
However, a few (relatively minor) issues.
Early on, the author describes boron as a material which would speed up a reaction, as opposed to slow it down. I know rationally this is a minor mistake due to the slightly confusing technical term, however it made me squint at every statement within the book wondering what other errors had been made and if I was not picking up on them. Comp unding this issue is the lack of in text citations - the bibliography is extensive so I don't understand why you would not reference in the text.
Another thing which bugged me was the contrast between the descriptions of Russians ("narrow Siberian eyes", tall and gaunt, austere) vs. the Americans (handsome and rich, going for runs before their volunteer work at the hospital). It was... Definitely a choice.
However, a few (relatively minor) issues.
Early on, the author describes boron as a material which would speed up a reaction, as opposed to slow it down. I know rationally this is a minor mistake due to the slightly confusing technical term, however it made me squint at every statement within the book wondering what other errors had been made and if I was not picking up on them. Comp unding this issue is the lack of in text citations - the bibliography is extensive so I don't understand why you would not reference in the text.
Another thing which bugged me was the contrast between the descriptions of Russians ("narrow Siberian eyes", tall and gaunt, austere) vs. the Americans (handsome and rich, going for runs before their volunteer work at the hospital). It was... Definitely a choice.
jenmangler's review against another edition
4.0
This book kept me riveted. If you want to know more about the Chernobyl nuclear accident, you'll want to read this book.