Chernobyl : History of a Tragedy , Midnight in Chernobyl

Chernobyl by Serhii Plokhy - Penguin Books AustraliaMidnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest ...

Name : Midnight in Chernobyl
Author : Adam Higginbotham
    Year of Publication : 2019
    Genre : Non-fiction , Science
   Rating : ****(4  stars out of 5)
Name : Chernobyl  - History of a tragedy
Author : Serhii Plokhy
    Year of Publication : 2018
    Genre : Non-fiction , Science
   Rating : ***(3  stars out of 5)

This is a duplex review covering two important books on the Chernobyl disaster. This was no ordinary technological disaster. It's significance can be gauged from Gorbachev's comment years later that the Chernobyl disaster “even more than my launch of perestroika, was perhaps the real cause of the collapse of the Soviet Union five years later." While Plokhy's work shines in analyzing the political ramifications in Ukraine (considering it is his home) , Higginbotham focuses on the science behind the catastrophe. I would prefer Higginbotham's work to Plokhy's but both the works are rigorously researched and engagingly written . They are scary reminders of the complex interplay between politics and science and will help us stay humble.

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