This is thought provoking looking at a monumental disaster. As a photo book I expected before and after photos of the infamous Chernobyl plant. I’ve never thought about how the plant provided power and jobs to so many people. Photos of building the plant and the pride in the community centers are very interesting. The book covers before the disaster, the catastrophe, the cleanup, urban wasteland, Belarus and Chernobyl today. Russia deserves the blunt of the blame for cutting corners and having management more concerned with chain of command than safety. Without the tv mini-series I don’t think I would know the extent of the damages and loss of lives for those that tried to stop the fires, and clean and seal the plant. But in reading I was surprised at how quickly they were able to get so many people to safety. The photos are fascinating as are the descriptive blurbs. One annoyance, which others have noted, is sometimes the narrative is interrupted by pages of photos and you almost lose track of what you’re reading. The book was finished before the recent Ukraine invasion. It will be a while before we know if there are any radiation consequences for the Russian troops being in the isolation zone. I learned a lot by reading this book even though it is mainly a photo book. Thank you to NetGalley and Amber books for a temporary eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Although many gifted writers can beautifully articulate the impact of certain tragedies with words, nothing can compare to the haunting and thorough photos captured at Chernobyl, both before, during, and the years after. I absolutely am captivated by the photos and appreciate the size and breadth of their coverage in this book. The text does an excellent job outlining the specifics, but nothing conveys the haunting nature of this famous landmark and disaster like photos. It is a dream of mine (I explore abandoned places) to one day visit and photograph the site myself, (although, currently due to Russia/Ukraine I know that dream is even farther away). This book went far beyond my expectation both as a writer, photographer, and appreciator of history and abandoned spaces.

Yes, there are other ways to look at Chernobyl – both in book form and on the small screen. No, without a handy subtitle this book will get to vanish with a most unwelcome half-life. But yes, this should easily be considered if you have half an interest in the history of the disaster.

Coming from Amber Books, it is of course very highly pictorial. The core text (damn, I'd better rephrase that) – the main bulk of the writing – is one short flowing essay, split into chapters yet reading practically as a piece – when sentences are not broken up by 20pp gaps, that is – and something that won't take nearly as much time as you'd expect. No, the main reading time comes from the copious captions to the images, and seeing as the essay leaves out key elements and just refers to them once it's too late (the 'sarcophagus', the trial of those more or less in charge) you have to think of those as the real thing we're here for.

Here it is that the details come through, and the forgotten aspects of it all, such as the fields of vehicles too 'hot' to touch for decades yet, and the way the other three reactors were still online for many years afterwards. At times it feels that the essay is there to cover all that cannot be included in the captions, but all the same it does still throw up surprises of its own – a chunk may be cattily political to some ears, but only rightly so by mine, as it looks at how heinous the situation has been in Belarus, with their budget still wrecked on an annual basis by the costs of the disaster, and apparently 70,000 people still on a list waiting to be evacuated to safety. Their movement, if it ever happens, must be the latest shutting of the stable door after the horse has bolted in history.

Chernobyl should have been a 'wham bam, change your life' kind of situation, especially to the likes of I who was thirteen as it happened. But it never got to have the 9/11 kind of impact, and instead something as comparatively petty as the Zeebrugge ferry disaster was the Big Tragedy I was first aware of. That's pretty much all down to how it leaked out slowly, with admission of the problem coming not at all promptly from either Kiev or Moscow. I think because it was more of a 'drip, drip' news story there's even more reason to be genning up on it. Our historian author could have been more hand-holding when it comes to the science, but this is not too stuffy or long a read, and certainly has a place in the market for many who would wish to know more. A strong four stars.

Chernobyl was definitely one of the worlds worst events in the 20th century. I think that the west views this as proof the Soviet Union was incompetent due to their communistic values. But the west fails to remember that the heroes of Chernobyl and how their actions helped save the rest of Europe for major disaster.
This book is full of a lot of pictures I haven't seen before. The photos of the liquidators on the bus actually show some women. In most of the reading I have done on Chernobyl, women are actually skipped over in most accounts unless they are medical personnel.
There are a couple of zinger comments in the book. I particularly enjoyed the comment about 70's architecture being pretty ugly everywhere, but in particular Pripyat was more hideous and oppressive. There were several times I had to re-read sentences because I wasn't able to tell if they were factual, opinion of the author or sarcasm particularly on page 11 when they discuss building the "peaceful atom".
There is an ending comment about "as terrible as the human cost has been, Ukraine and Belarus have both survived." Reading this while knowing that Ukrainians and President Zelensky are in a war with Russia, who caused this ecological disaster, is heartbreaking.

Thank you to Netgalley for offering me an advanced copy of this ARC to give my unbiased review.

Really fascinating book on Chernobyl. I knew that there had been an accident, and that Pripyat had been quickly evacuated, but had little knowledge of the actual event, and the destruction that extended far beyond Pripyat.

Wonderful pictures, and I enjoyed how the book covered how the accident occurred, why it was inevitable, and the information about the people who helped contain the fallout.

Thank you #netgalley for the ARC.

Thank you #Netgalley for the ARC copy of this book.

I recently finished reading "Midnight in Chernobyl," so I felt compelled to request this book. Unfortunately, the information fell flat when compared to Adam Higginbotham's work. Having the pictures for reference was a nice addition when I had trouble visualizing some of the more technical engineering aspects, but the layout of the pictures in the ebook made it difficult and frustrating to read at times.

Also, there were a couple of pictures that lacked thorough captioning. One standout example of this was at the end of the book, a picture of a Geiger counter was shown reading "4.91 μSv'h." The caption simply said "LIVE ISSUE - As of 2011, radiation levels at Chernobyl were still high..." but didn't explain what this meant. I had to look it up myself and found this explanatory reference that made the picture way more impactful: https://research.csu.edu.au/integrity-ethics-compliance/radiation/forms-templates-proformas/radiation-life/ionising/how-much

Decent, but not the best read or resource.

This is a really amazing book, full of rare photos and an interesting history which still has relevance especially today. I have been interested in Chernobyl since the drama series on HBO a few years ago, and this really gave the real people involved a face. This will be even better in a published book and I would definitely recommend to people interested in history, world events, eastern Europe or Soviet policy and its failings.

I have been reading through this book very slowly, trying to soak it all up. The photographs are incredible, loads of stuff I'd never seen before from the building of the power plant all way through to the disaster, the clean up, and what the area looks like now. Theres also a lot of written information, with insights from a lot of the people involved in the clean up efforts.

The history of the most lethal and infamous nuclear accident of Chernobyl are etched into the every page of the book. Detailed and comprehensive, it brings all the information and paint the picture of what was before the accident, what the accident looked like and it's effect and aftermath. A powerful book enriched with history and thorough facts.

Chernobyl, the name is synonymous with disaster. But in its heyday, the nuclear power plant was considered a harbinger of the future, providing millions of people with clean, safe energy. Kerrigan’s photos of the plant under construction are eerie given its fate, but all the photos, including those of the reactors that were literally obliterated during the meltdown, are a chilling reminder of that terrible day in 1986. The book is even more relevant today, with the Russian takeover of the plant in the midst of their brutal bombardment of Ukraine

This is a very interesting, well put together book about the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl. There are chapters and photographs from the construction of the plant, to the immediate aftermath, as well as the effects on Pripyat and Belarus. There is also more recent photography showing the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone as it is today. I found the photography fascinating, and enjoyed the chapters and captions, though the placement of these was frustrating at times. Chapters would be interrupted mid-sentence and not resume for several pages, making it easy to become lost. Captions were also placed before and after photo pages, which was sometimes confusing. It might work better as a physical book than an ebook. Aside from this, I found it very interesting and well-written. An informative and insightful book.

A really well done compendium with lots of good information and background of the location and event. I also really enjoyed that I hadn't seen most of this pictures before! This book would be really good if someone was doing a project on Chernobyl and wanted some idea but I could also see it doing well as a coffee table book. This is one of the better and most comprehensive books on the topic out there, especially if you are short on time and can't read 1000 pages.
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review

Review to come June 1st on blog/goodreads/other places.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

I just had to request this book! Chernobyl is one of the things I am interested in for several reasons. One because it is so haunting, so scary. 

I was eager to see what photographs we would get and what information. Would I see and learn something new? 

I loved that this one didn't just focus on Pripyat. Yes, that is one of the reasons why I took the book because seeing how the town is abandoned is just haunting, but we get plenty of Pripyat. Being build, people living there, and then the aftermath of the ghost town and everything just left behind. But we also get to see wildlife, Belarus and the surrounding areas, and we get to see the reactor. Being build, from the inside, from the outside, and I learned quite some more about the reactor and everything surrounding it. I love it when I already know things but get to learn more! 

The text varied in interesting to OMG so boring (when it went more into politics/economics stuff). Sometimes I just gave up on reading as the text just stopped mid-sentence and would continue after 5-6 pages of photographs.. by which time I already forgot what the text said, and thus had to scroll back. It may work in the physical form, though I know from experience it might also not as I have read multiple photography books over the years. I did read, when I could because I read this on a phone and constantly zooming in and out isn't going so well, the text along with the photographs. Those were interesting to read. 

But despite that bit about the text, I did really like reading this one. It was interesting. The photos good. I would recommend it.

As a 90s baby, most of my knowledge of Chernobyl comes from the miniseries and random Buzzfeed articles so it was nice to read through this book and gain more context for the disaster. This book is divided into six sections: before the disaster, the catastrophe, the cleanup, urban wasteland, Belarus, and Chernobyl today. The book provides good historical information as well as great photography. I was expecting this to be more of a photo book comparing the location before and after the disaster, so I was pleased to find that this book contained a lot more information. This book did have my pet peeve with these books where the narrative will have several pages of photos in the middle of a sentence, which means I had to flip back multiple times to remind myself what I was reading. I did like that this book included consequences outside of Ukraine as we tend to think of it as an isolated incident. The book leaves off with the location being monitored and open only to select individuals. Sadly, due to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, this is no longer the case as Russian forces took over Chernobyl without any care for the lasting radiation which will likely have lasting consequences.

If you’re wondering what truly happened at Chernobyl, but lack the time or desire to read a much longer book, this is right up your alley. And if you’ve watched the HBO miniseries about Chernobyl, this serves as added knowledge to be had.

As much as this book prominently displays the failings of Soviet rule, the incompetence of bureaucrats, and the lies told to so many people during the events in 1986, it’s also showing a dash of hope. Sure, the land is still contaminated and highly radioactive, but that same land is also reclaiming its spot in the world. Among the decay and despair of abandoned vehicles, homes, belongings, and entire cities or towns, we see that not all is lost. Flora and fauna have come back. Animals have survived. And maybe a lesson or two has been learned? Maybe.

Even as someone who’s read a fair amount about the disaster, and as someone who had a childhood friend who came from Ukraine with her parents (both engineers who worked at Chernobyl during the disaster, and her mother absolutely had radiation-related illnesses for years), this proved to be interesting to me. The heartbreak of lives and homes and security lost really hit home. The heroism of people who either had no clue what they were up against or, even more heroic, DID and still rushed to work until their job was done impressed. The consequences of mismanagement and corners cut were clearly seen here, as well. This book is a strong warning against complacency when dealing with dangerous things, as well as a bit of a finger waved at Chernobyl for destroying life as it was once known.

Chernobyl by Michael Kerrigan is a photo book telling the story of the action at the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant in 1986. The book documents the events leading up to the accident including the actions of the on-site management that contributed to the explosion. The numerous photos tell the full story of what happened, the men and women who helped contain the fire at great personal danger and the aftermath.
A great pick if you want detail and photos of the disaster.

One issue was the placement of the captions. It was tough at times to keep up with photos when the caption was on a seperate page.

"26 April 1986: Chernobyl" by Michael Kerrigan provides excellent documentation of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. The book covers the background, catastrophe itself, the clean-up, the ongoing impact to the surrounding countries, and Chernobyl today. The text clearly covers the history of this event, and the 180+ photographs provide haunting testament to the impact. With vivid pictures of abandoned equipment and eerie ruins, this book feels exactly like a real-life "Tales From the Loop".

This book is amazingly timely. Although it was written before Russia's 2022 appalling wanton invasion of Ukraine, the author does not hesitate to describe the heavy (deadly) price that Russian policy has had on Soviet citizens.

Given the authors clear writing, and excellent selection of photographs, I believe that he would be well qualified to write a photo documentary book on the genocide committed by Putin's 2022 invasion and slaughter of Ukrainian citizens. (This is a complement! And such a book would be beneficial for the world!)

I thank Michael Kerrigan and Amber Books for graciously providing a temporary electronic review copy of this work.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of Chernobyl by Michael Kerrigan. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley and Amber Works Ltd. for providing an ARC to review.

Through extensive photographs, Kerrigan shares the events that lead to Chernobyl's nuclear disaster, the city of Pripyat before and after the explosion, and the lasting effects on Ukraine and Belarus.

I have read several works regarding this topic and this book had the best photographs of them all. The extensive photos of the power plant, the city, and the post-explosion places you into the events. I learned quite a bit about the long-term effects as well as the political climate that created this horrific event. For anyone interested in the historic event, I recommend giving this book a try. It is the perfect start when researching Chernobyl.