minnie_ken435's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
mcrammal's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Very informative, one of the more in depth novels about Chernobyl I’ve read so far. Plokhy gives you a very in depth picture of what Soviet culture looked like and why people were influenced to make the decisions that they did. He also went into how the disaster influenced the dissolution of the USSR and how it’s impact can still be felt today.
linguisticali's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
4.5
Really interesting. I felt like I got some good insight into the politics and bureaucracy around the disaster but less so its impact on people. I also found the epilogue to be a bit alarmist about population growth in Africa and Asia and the use of nuclear power by developing countries.
brettcarl's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.5
Meticulously-researched, objectively-investigated, and written-respectfully, Serhii Plokhy's Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy earns the right to be the foremost historical account on the Chernobyl Nuclear disaster. By the end of it, you'll be fully-informed of exactly what did and didn't happen during this catastrophic event, as well as being able to comprehend the causes and consequences of the disaster too. From the irrational, delusional commitment to the Soviet Union and communism to the competitive, inherent nature of geopolitics, Plokhy proficiently points to how many factors influenced not just the causes of the disaster, but also the reaction to it as well.
However, Plokhy's impressive historical account does have drawbacks too, those which are a by-product of his account's strengths. Specifically, Ploky's objective approach and meticulous research, leave little room for emotion. Thus, the account is at times missing a human element which would be easily addressed by Plokhy focusing on the cast of individuals at his disposal meaning the account would be more intimate and emotive too. Furthermore, as Plokhy takes a more objective and broad approach to the event, his account can feel too detail-heavy and does become quite sluggish and less exciting to read, which would also be fixed by a more intimate approach too.
Yet, these criticisms do not take away from the fact that Plokhy has produced an accurate, objective, detailed and respectful account of one of world history's most significant and catastrophic events. And now having read it, it has also made me reevaluate the quality of the HBO/Sky Atlantic TV series, Chernobyl, which despite the creator's - Craig Mazin - claims to be about the fragility of truth and how easily it can be distorted and manipulated to serve the immoral and unethical intentions of individuals, communities and states, actually ends up becoming the very thing it's critiquing due to the excessive amount of historical and scientific inaccuracies in its adaptation. Fortunately though, Serhii Plokhy's account speaks truth to power and critically conveys how the distortion, manipulation and erasure of truth facilitated one of the worst nuclear disasters in world history, and jeopardised the health and wellbeing of millions of innocent individuals and the vital environment that surrounds them and us.
However, Plokhy's impressive historical account does have drawbacks too, those which are a by-product of his account's strengths. Specifically, Ploky's objective approach and meticulous research, leave little room for emotion. Thus, the account is at times missing a human element which would be easily addressed by Plokhy focusing on the cast of individuals at his disposal meaning the account would be more intimate and emotive too. Furthermore, as Plokhy takes a more objective and broad approach to the event, his account can feel too detail-heavy and does become quite sluggish and less exciting to read, which would also be fixed by a more intimate approach too.
Yet, these criticisms do not take away from the fact that Plokhy has produced an accurate, objective, detailed and respectful account of one of world history's most significant and catastrophic events. And now having read it, it has also made me reevaluate the quality of the HBO/Sky Atlantic TV series, Chernobyl, which despite the creator's - Craig Mazin - claims to be about the fragility of truth and how easily it can be distorted and manipulated to serve the immoral and unethical intentions of individuals, communities and states, actually ends up becoming the very thing it's critiquing due to the excessive amount of historical and scientific inaccuracies in its adaptation. Fortunately though, Serhii Plokhy's account speaks truth to power and critically conveys how the distortion, manipulation and erasure of truth facilitated one of the worst nuclear disasters in world history, and jeopardised the health and wellbeing of millions of innocent individuals and the vital environment that surrounds them and us.
bub_9's review against another edition
3.0
I know this won the Baillie Gifford Prize, but.
Serhii Plokhy has written so many books in recent years, and while some people are just more filled with ideas than others, I do think that contributes to them sometimes feeling like the kind of stuff a business school professor would write, instead of a historian.
Some of the parts of the book were very interesting, like the personal, individual stories of the firefighters who responded to the Chernobyl disaster, as well as the idea of the aftermath - blame-shifting and responsibility, though I did think it was a bit of a stretch to then draw that line all the way to collapse and independence. Also, the epilogue was important, I think - a measured account of the dangers of nuclear energy.
For the most part, though, this was pretty dull because it was so superficial and narrative-driven; so little judgement or even explanatory accounts that one really skated over the words without gaining anything. For example, the dropping of sand lead - was it right or not? Plokhy only tells us that, as in every situation ever in human history, some wanted to and some didn't.
Serhii Plokhy has written so many books in recent years, and while some people are just more filled with ideas than others, I do think that contributes to them sometimes feeling like the kind of stuff a business school professor would write, instead of a historian.
Some of the parts of the book were very interesting, like the personal, individual stories of the firefighters who responded to the Chernobyl disaster, as well as the idea of the aftermath - blame-shifting and responsibility, though I did think it was a bit of a stretch to then draw that line all the way to collapse and independence. Also, the epilogue was important, I think - a measured account of the dangers of nuclear energy.
For the most part, though, this was pretty dull because it was so superficial and narrative-driven; so little judgement or even explanatory accounts that one really skated over the words without gaining anything. For example, the dropping of sand lead - was it right or not? Plokhy only tells us that, as in every situation ever in human history, some wanted to and some didn't.