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  • Midnight in Chernobyl

  • Written by: Adam Higginbotham
  • Narrated by: Jacques Roy
  • Length: 13 hrs and 55 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (420 ratings)

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Midnight in Chernobyl

Written by: Adam Higginbotham
Narrated by: Jacques Roy
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Publisher's Summary

One of AudioFile’s Best Audiobooks of 2019!

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

April 25, 1986 in Chernobyl was a turning point in world history. The disaster not only changed the world’s perception of nuclear power and the science that spawned it, but also our understanding of the planet’s delicate ecology. With the images of the abandoned homes and playgrounds beyond the barbed wire of the 30-kilometer Exclusion Zone, the rusting graveyards of contaminated trucks and helicopters, the farmland lashed with black rain, the event fixed for all time the notion of radiation as an invisible killer.

Chernobyl was also a key event in the destruction of the Soviet Union, and, with it, the United States’ victory in the Cold War. For Moscow, it was a political and financial catastrophe as much as an environmental and scientific one. With a total cost of 18 billion rubles - at the time equivalent to $18 billion - Chernobyl bankrupted an already teetering economy and revealed to its population a state built upon a pillar of lies.

The full story of the events that started that night in the control room of reactor number four of the V.I. Lenin Nuclear Power Plant has never been told - until now. Through two decades of reporting, new archival information, and firsthand interviews with witnesses, journalist Adam Higginbotham tells the full dramatic story, including Alexander Akimov and Anatoli Dyatlov, who represented the best and worst of Soviet life; denizens of a vanished world of secret policemen, internal passports, food lines, and heroic self-sacrifice for the motherland.

Midnight in Chernobyl, award-worthy nonfiction that reads like sci-fi, shows not only the final epic struggle of a dying empire, but also the story of individual heroism and desperate, ingenious technical improvisation joining forces against a new kind of enemy.

©2019 Adam Higginbotham (P)2019 Simon & Schuster

What listeners say about Midnight in Chernobyl

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Hair raising

The narration is perfect! I felt I was there.

The research done for this story is astounding. Truly a great chronicle of science, history, and the human condition.

I highly recommend this book

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6 people found this helpful

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Excellent story

I got this book after watching the first episode of the new Chernobyl series to learn more about the nuclear disaster. This book explained the events so well. I will listen again

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5 people found this helpful

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Excellent!

Deeply researched, detailed and understandable for non-physicists. Adam Higginbotham's passion for the content and empathy for the victims of the disaster shine.

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3 people found this helpful

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loved it!

I really enjoyed listening to Midnight in Chernobyl and finished it in about three days. The complete account of the event from first-hand witnesses and various parties involved was eye-opening and had me sucked into the story from start to finish. if you're interested in learning about the events leading up to, during, and after the Chernobyl disaster, I would highly recommend this book.

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So many things I didn't know

I remember hearing of Chernobyl when it happened, but there was little information except for warnings about radiation levels in Europe. This is a fascinating story of all the little and big things that went wrong to cause the disaster. Even more interesting are the approaches taken, and the manpower used to remediate the site. Although I was unable to keep track of all the Russian and Ukrainian names, I was still able to fully appreciate the magnitude of what happened.

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You probably think you know about Chernobyl...

An absolutely riveting and tragic tale of sacrifice, disdain, crippling bureaucracy, fear and arrogance. Superb.

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My first audiobook - Excellent start

Fantastic book, coming off the HBO mini series this filled in lots of missing details and was a fantastic continuation. The narration was great as was the continuity of the story.

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Great book!

Loved this book. Hard to stop listening to. Would definitely recommend. I wonder if it’s really under control now.

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if you are interested in the subject matter

very interesting and excellent narration. I recommend to even those with a casual interest. thank you

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Wow, a great listen!

An incredibly well-written account of the Chernobyl disaster that kept me listening for hours (and I don't regret it). Many times I couldn't believe my ears as the events unfolded: all the lies and secrecy; the sad reality of human nature. Highly recommended!

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