Publisher's Weekly Review
An artful storyteller, Plokhy (Lost Kingdom), director of Harvard's Ukrainian Research Institute, melds Kremlin politics, nuclear physics, and human frailty into this spellbinding account of the 1986 explosion and fire at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station in Ukraine, which Soviet officials tried to deny and then attempted to downplay the extent of. Plokhy expertly guides readers through the Soviet military-industrial complex, exposing the rivalries and clashes among Communist Party bosses, government ministries, the KGB, and central planners whose "unrealistic demands" and "impossible deadlines" precipitated the disaster. The meltdown occurred during a holiday connected to Lenin's birthday; Plokhy, with a Gogolian sense of irony, captures the air of celebration as radiation levels climb to hundreds of times above normal and the threat of a second explosion looms. Officials denied what was happening, the KGB cut telephone lines to keep news of the disaster from spreading, and the deaths of firefighters exposed to lethal doses of radiation in the months following the explosion were kept secret. Plokhy, who shares the opinion of many historians that Chernobyl's meltdown was the beginning of the end of the Soviet Union, documents the catastrophe and its effects on reemerging Ukrainian and Russian nationalism in this probing and sensitive investigative history. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Library Journal Review
From the birth of the Soviet nuclear industry to a detailed analysis of the dramatic events of April 26, 1986, Plokhy (history, Harvard Univ.; The Gates of Europe) provides the most comprehensive exploration of the events that led to the Chernobyl disaster. The engrossing narrative covers how past Soviet nuclear accidents guided the response-and denial-of the explosion at Reactor 4 and significantly impacted the future of the now-abandoned town of Pripyat, the surrounding regions, and ultimately the Soviet Union. Plokhy also details the lasting effects the catastrophe are predicted to have on the residents and ecosystems of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia for more than 20,000 years. A cautionary closing explores the continued operation of the power plant for years afterward and reveals how easily another tragedy could occur at nuclear facilities around the world. VERDICT A comprehensive overview of the Chernobyl disaster, with enough scientific inquiry to present nuclear topics without getting bogged down in details and jargon. Readers will appreciate the breadth of coverage of this nuclear and Soviet history, from environmentalists to interested general audiences.-Zebulin Evelhoch, Central Washington Univ. Lib., Ellensburg © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
