KS5/Adult LRC Weekly Book Recommendation - Chernobyl - History of a Tragedy by Serhii Plokhy

From an outstanding shortlist, Serhii Plokhy’s charged and impeccably-researched history of the Chernobyl disaster emerged as the triumphant winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction 2018. In Serhii Plokhy’s riveting account, the tragedy becomes emblematic of the decline of the Soviet state itself, from the complacency that led to the disaster, to the massive underestimation of its political and human aftermath. Sobering and gripping, the volume stands as a powerful testimony to the terrible consequences of national hubris.

Winner of the Pushkin House Russian Book Prize 2019

Winner of the Ballie Gifford Prize 2018

On 26 April 1986 at 1.23am a reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Soviet Ukraine exploded. While the authorities scrambled to understand what was occurring, workers, engineers, firefighters and those living in the area were abandoned to their fate. The blast put the world on the brink of nuclear annihilation, contaminating over half of Europe with radioactive fallout.

In Chernobyl, award-winning historian Serhii Plokhy draws on recently opened archives to recreate these events in all their drama. A moment by moment account of the heroes, perpetrators and victims of a tragedy, Chernobyl is the first full account of a gripping, unforgettable Cold War story.