Chernobyl: The History of a Nuclear Catastrophe

From a preeminent historian of Eastern Europe, the definitive history of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster

On the morning of April 26, 1986, Europe witnessed the worst nuclear disaster in history: the explosion of a reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Soviet Ukraine. Dozens died of radiation poisoning, fallout contaminated half the continent, and thousands fell ill.

In Chernobyl, Serhii Plokhy draws on new sources to tell the dramatic stories of the firefighters, scientists, and soldiers who heroically extinguished the nuclear inferno. He lays bare the flaws of the Soviet nuclear industry, tracing the disaster to the authoritarian character of Communist party rule, the regime's control of scientific information, and its emphasis on economic development over all else.

Today, the risk of another Chernobyl looms in the mismanagement of nuclear power in the developing world. A moving and definitive account, Chernobyl is also an urgent call to action.

• Chernobyl 01:23:40: The Incredible True Story of the World's Worst Nuclear Disaster
• Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster
• Voices From Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster
• Manual for Survival: A Chernobyl Guide to the Future
• Voices from Chernobyl (Lannan Selection)
• Atomic Accidents: A History of Nuclear Meltdowns and Disasters: From the Ozark Mountains to Fukushima
• Ablaze: The Story of the Heroes and Victims of Chernobyl
• Idaho Falls: The Untold Story of America's First Nuclear Accident
• Chernobyl (BD + Digital Copy) [Blu-ray]
• The Last Empire: The Final Days of the Soviet Union