Midnight in Chernobyl
by Adam Higginbotham · first published 2019
50% recommend40% neutral10% critical
Why HN recommends it
Narrative nonfiction on the Chernobyl disaster, its cleanup and aftermath. It reads almost like a thriller while remaining very informative, suiting those interested in the history of the Soviet collapse.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"Journalist Adam Higginbotham's definitive, years-in-the-making account of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster--and a powerful investigation into how propaganda, secrecy, and myth have obscured the true story of one of the twentieth century's greatest disasters. Early in the morning of April 26, 1986, Reactor Number Four of the Chernobyl Atomic Energy Station exploded, triggering history's worst nuclear disaster. In the thirty years since then, Chernobyl has become lodged in the collective nightmares of the world: shorthand for the spectral horrors of radiation poisoning, for a dangerou
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…like the fall of the Roman empire, wasn't down to just one or two or three factors, but was a culmination of factors. The Soviet Beast became too big and collapsed on itself. I wrote about the book Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham [1] on my blog [2] as it's one of the best books I've read. I highly recommend it. I'm just going to copy and paste from my blog - The Chernobyl explosion wasn’t the result of a…
on “Famous Photo of Chernobyl's Dangerous Radioactive Material Was a Selfie (2016)” ↗Just finished Higginbotham's Midnight in Chernobyl on the accident, the cleanup and its consequences. At times it read almost like a thriller, while still being extremely informative.
on “Ask HN: Read any good books lately?” ↗…Octavia Butler (near future post-apocalyptic sci-fi). The non-fiction Liberation Trilogy by Rick Atkinson (more WW2 non-fiction, nice details about North Africa through Italy, then France to Germany). Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham. Most Secret War by RV Jones (nerdy, funny history of one scientist's world war 2 experience). The Discworld City Guard books, starting with Guards! Guards!, by Terry Pratchett.…
on “Ask HN: What books have been worth your time?” ↗This. Also, Higginbotham's "Midnight in Chernobyl" is brilliant prose about the disaster, from the run-up through to the aftermath. At times, it reads more like a thriller (and a fast-paced one at that!) than prose.
on “Chernobyl Wildlife Forty Years On” ↗Dyatlov's interview from the 90s, which is still available on youtube [1], seems to fit better with the account given in the hit book "Midnight in Chernobyl" (which was the basis for the series,) than the story written for TV. To me the series just seemed like a rehash of the same movie tropes we've seen time and time again in dramatizations of the accident,…
on “Debunking the Myths of the HBO Chernobyl series (2023)” ↗…hers, I'd do Gulag. John Kraukauer's Into Thin Air and Under the Banner of Heaven are excellent, as is Crisis in the Red Zone about the origins and spread of ebola in the Sierra Leon. edit: Oh! Also Midnight in Chernobyl was amazing, especially great if you listen to it before or after watching the HBO show. It's a fantastic read even if you don't watch the show and I think is what kicked off my interest above in life…
on “Where is the scrutiny over FDA’s role in the overdose epidemic?” ↗Leisure Stuff: Boom Town: The Fantastical Saga Of Oklahoma City, It's Chaotic Founding... by Sam Anderson Midnight In Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham Dune by Frank Herbert The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu (tried it this year and stopped, want to give it another go) Stories of Your Life and Others - Ted Chiang (just finished…
on “Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020?” ↗The claim as I drew it from “Midnight in Chernobyl” by Adam Higginbotham (I don’t know if a popular non-fiction book meets your evidentiary standard, I just happen to have finished reading it) is that the public damage and cost from Chernobyl was so unprecedented…
on “Expert predicts a major hurricane hitting Houston would be “America’s Chernobyl”” ↗It’s such an interesting debate, because while I think we have solved the technological safety issues (which is what us engineers think of), we have not solved the human issues. I’m reading Midnight in Chernobyl, and while the reactor design was flawed, the problem was created and compounded by just how stupid us humans actually are. Things like the builders not being able to get quality cement, for example -…
on “Public's Dread of Nuclear Power Limits Its Deployment” ↗…pressured to participate. The May day parade was later often referred to in infamy by the Ukrainian independence movement following the disaster. Most of my information comes from what I remember of reading "Midnight in Chernobyl" and "Chernobyl the History of a Nuclear Disaster"
on “Debunking the Myths of the HBO Chernobyl series (2023)” ↗> he is dismissive of his staff's concerns, he bullies them into submission, and he has a callous indifference to safety. I suspect that you are sourcing "Midnight in Chernobyl", which is based on Medvedev's book, which is full of inventions. > a regime that intentionally buries secrets, like them already knowing the unsafe design of the RBMK control rods. This is an invention…
on “Debunking the Myths of the HBO Chernobyl series (2023)” ↗