Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy

by Serhii Plokhy

through birch groves and, closer to Chernobyl,

I was a student at the time of the disaster and was aware of the situation but I didn’t follow it closely. Then I watched the HBO mini series and was horrified. I wanted to know how many liberties HBO took with history. Seems not too many. This book traces the incident and how it was the final mail in the coffin for the USSR. Perhaps more shocking was the fact the the plant continued producing nuclear power.the deaths of the firefighters and plant operators is almost off hand and yet, despite the understatements, dignified. Worth reading. I also have the book “Midnight at Chernobyl” but am taking a break before I read that. The world just missed out on a disaster that could have laid waste to much larger areas than it did. That is a sobering thought as well as the nature of a one party state and its control of information is a warning to all.