Chernobyl 01:23:40: The Incredible True Story of the World's Worst Nuclear Disaster Paperback – 16 April 2016

I am currently recovering from a broken hip after a cycling accident and am reading more than usual. With the anniversary of the disaster I was inspired to read something on the subject to fill some of my recovery time and this seemed suitable based on the reviews - not too technical and having sifted through the evidence to try to get at the truth. It certainly is that. Compelling reading from start to finish, I couldn't put this down like a good novel. The author claims not to be a writer, but his personable style is engaging and the chapters on the disaster are interspersed with his own recollections of a photography trip that changed his life as he saw for himself the Zone that had captured his imagination for so many years. Anyone with a similar interest (like myself) can easily be drawn in and imagine being there. Eye-opening, moving, depressing, enraging - this disaster changed the world and that really does come across. There are some typos throughout, but the text is clearly well researched and I now want to read more. A selection of colour photos would be a great addition although the black and white perhaps capture the eeriness well and they are excellently taken. All in all I found myself grateful that I only have a broken hip and superb health care!

This was the author’s first book. It is readable and informative and it depends on very careful dissection of the events that led to Chernobyl’s reactor no. 4 exploding. It attempts to present a layman’s explanation of the catastrophic events that led to the disaster. I followed it (mostly) but had to read the “Accident” chapter three times before the penny dropped but I still do not fully understand what went on. The author also confesses to his incomplete understanding. How much have I learnt? There was a late-night safety test carried out on reactor no. 4. The aim was to simulate a blackout power-failure, during the course of which emergency safety and power-regulating systems were turned off for testing. The procedure induced an unexpected power surge, an accumulation of steam, then an explosion of the reactor and ending with a graphite fire that caused vast plumes of radioactive smoke to enter the atmosphere. It nearly led to a meltdown of the reactor fuel through to the water table. For the technical details you had best read the book because my knowledge is very limited. However, the events both before and after the explosion are interpolated with chapters that comprise the author’s experiences when he visited the Chernobyl site. Seemingly Chernobyl and the surrounding areas are tourist sites although why you would venture on such a trip is mystery to me. These touristic chapters spoil the continuity of the book. However, it is a readable account of what went on and how perilously close the explosion came to contaminating most of Europe for thousands of years. In particular, the description of the heroism shown by the Chernobyl workers and fire-fighters, as they tackled the fire, was truly amazing. Viewing the excellent Sky Atlantic’s serialisation, Chernobyl, led me to find out more. Through reading this book I most certainly have.

Chernobyl is one of the highest rated nuclear disasters in history and still holds a lot of festination with many people. Mr Leatherbarrow is one of those people whose interested in the events of 26 April 1986 led him to visit on the 25th Anniversary of the disaster. His book pieces together the facts from fiction and the many eye witness accounts.The beauty of the book is that the science has been kept to the minimum although enough that you can understand basic nuclear fission and how the reactor worked. He gives a good account of what happened on that fateful morning although the official line is still no one really knows. It was most likely a combination on reactor design and small user mistakes although there are of-course a few conspiracy theories with Duga 3, also known as 'Chernobyl Two' a massive radar system used by the Soviets during the Cold War on the tour which at the time of Mr Leatherbarrow’s visit was off-limits.The book was very interesting as I have just returned from visiting Chernobyl (August 2016) just see what has changed and what was different from Mr Leatherbarrow visit 5 years ago. The only thing I felt was a little dramatized were the sections on the visit themselves, maybe tours were not so organised back 5 years ago, but they are now very easy as they depart from Kiev most days and entail a 2 hour drive. Get the right tour and you can even stay overnight within the outer exclusion zone.Even with 2 days in the area and so much to see you just can’t take it all in and his book brought back many things I’d seen on my tour and gave a little more history. Overall, this is a very enjoyable book, very readable and a must for those who are interested in the history and aftermath of Chernobyl disaster.

Great, accessible overview of what happened and a very useful introduction containing many helpful references allowing further research. Nicely paced narrative, easy to understand and very well structured. Comprehensive coverage of the event and its consequences. I got it for a Christmas (2016) and couldn't put it down. I worked at the Sellafield Nuclear site in the UK around the time of the Chernobyl disaster, in a non-scientific role, when I was a naive twenty something. If I'd read this book then I'd have been far less complacent about the risks. Excellent. Great book.

I really enjoyed this book…it didn’t bog down too much into technical details that could easily have made this a boring read. Instead, the author did a great job mingling easy to understand technical descriptions with the human story of this historic tragedy. The story of the author’s own pilgrimage to Chernobyl was also interesting and well woven into the narrative.

Combining his personal memoir of a trip to Chernobyl with a lucid historical account, Andrew has scored a major hit. His chilling photos back up a tale of incompetence, hubris and fear in the USSR...and a warning to all who operate nuclear plants. A great read...highly recommended.

o livro apresenta boas discussões acerca do acidente nuclear em Chernobyl. Não é extremamente técnico, mas apresenta uma discussão razoável da cadeia de eventos que culminou na explosão do reator. O escritor é cuidadoso na discussão das informações e adiciona fatos relevantes sobre o período pós acidente.

Bon ouvrage car l'auteur s'est rendu à la centrale Lénine ainsi qu'à Pripiat.Son émotion de ce qu'il a vu et ressenti pendant ce voyage est captivante.De nombreuses photographies illustrent ce livre ce qui le rend encore plus intéressant.Ouvrage en Anglais mais facile à traduire en français.

The author provides first a brief and interesting history of nuclear related accidents, starting from the first experiments by Marie Curie. The events and facts concerning the accident to reactor n°4 (both the reasons for the 'crazy' test of that night and the various lacks in a rigorous design of the RBMK) and all the aftermath are well explained and rich in details.The only thing that can be found a bit annoying is the temporal shift between the chapters in which the author alternates the story of the accident with the description of his own travel to the exclusion zone, but I've found it interesting at the end, making the reader feel like to walk around Pripyat. Loved the images gallery at the end.Recommended reading if interested in what happened on that fateful night back in 1986.