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  • Midnight in Chernobyl

  • The Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster
  • By: Adam Higginbotham
  • Narrated by: Jacques Roy
  • Length: 13 hrs and 55 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (786 ratings)

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Midnight in Chernobyl

By: Adam Higginbotham
Narrated by: Jacques Roy
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Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

The dramatic untold story of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster, based on original reporting and new archival research.

Early in the morning of April 26, 1986, Reactor Number Four of the Chernobyl Atomic Energy Station exploded, triggering history’s worst nuclear disaster. 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 not only its own citizens, but all of humanity. 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Drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews conducted over the course of more than ten years, as well as letters, unpublished memoirs, and documents from recently-declassified archives, Adam Higginbotham has written a harrowing and compelling narrative which brings the disaster to life through the eyes of the men and women who witnessed it firsthand. The result is a masterful non-fiction thriller, and the definitive account of an event that changed history: a story that is more complex, more human, and more terrifying than the Soviet myth.

Midnight In Chernobyl is an indelible portrait of one of the great disasters of the twentieth century, of human resilience and ingenuity, and 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.

©2019 Adam Higginbotham (P)2019 Penguin Audio
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History
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Critic reviews

An invaluable contribution to history... tells a compelling story exceptionally well. (Serhii Plokhy)

What listeners say about Midnight in Chernobyl

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    5 out of 5 stars

A little slow to start but an amazing book!

Fascinating, hard to stop listening to. As much a look at the Soviet Union and it's people as Chernobyl.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Fascinating

I really enjoyed this book. The detail of the Chernobyl incident is fascinating, and the insight into the crumbling Soviet Union is eye opening. The narrator is excellent and didn't put a foot wrong,

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Very well researched.

This is a very factual and well researched book. If you are after an easy listen or one that provides a mild insight into the subject then this isn’t the one for you.

This is at times a tough listen that really requires you to concentrate on the matter at hand to get the most out of it.

I wanted to learn more of the finite detail around the Chernobyl disaster this provided me with exactly what I wanted.

Both incredibly sad yet informative at the same tome it’s well worth a listen if you’re in the mood for being educated and don’t mind learning a few new words of the Queens.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Brilliant Read

Loved this Audio Book, such an important event well documented and narrated. very interesting to hear the full story after only seeing the events on the Netfix series.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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A fascinating and well researched book

The author was able to explain the factual details about the disaster while telling a story which keeps you engaged throughout.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Captivating

It shows why nuclear energy is inherently unsafe as demonstrated by Fukushima and Chernobyl as well as the cost of storing nuclear waste which is indefinate.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Superb.

Absolutely riveting story of the world's worst Nuclear accident. After watching the recent Chernobyl docudrama I made a bee line for this audio book and wasn't disappointed - learned so much more about the unfolding impact of the explosion than I imagined.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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Gripping

Can’t stop listening, have seen tv shows and read other material but this feels authentic

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Incredibly Interesting

Revealing history of the development of nuclear power and its links to the arms industry. Cover ups of accidents by all including UK. Insight into dissipating Soviet Union and its desperate cling to power no matter what the human cost

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great explanation of events

Brilliant book slightly dodgy pronunciation of some words such as bitumen and collate that gets more annoying each time you hear it.

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5 people found this helpful