Very interested account, in accessible language. I was inspired by the HBO drama to seek out a factual account and this covers the multitude of factors of what cause such a disaster. I would recommend to friends who are also interested in history or responses to disasters

Factual books on complex human tragedy are always compelling to read and this was no exception. I got the audio version.
I liked the way in which the tragedy was looked at in wider concepts of politics the current war history and nucleur power as a whole. It didnt dwell too much on the ctual events its was more about the concept and its wider application. It was very thought privoking..
My only issue was the natrator was at times too mon otobed and emotionless.
A throughtly enjoyable 4 stars. Thank you netgallery and publisher

Even if you know little about nuclear energy you will know about the disasters. This book goes through the events leading up to the nuclear accident and the aftermath. Very factual, well researched and all in a language I could easily understand. I learnt a great deal about the science and industry, not too scientific either. The police input was closely in tune with the situation at the time and felt it was very accurate. Thank you #NetGalley for the audiobook to review.

It’s so hard to believe that this is a true story. It is unbelievable on what happened and how devastating this nuclear tragedy was. Also, it’s had to fathom the long term consequences of this disaster.

I’ve never read or watched anything on Chernobyl, so I cannot say much about the content relative to other books or documentary, but this book does seem to have a lot of information and it is well written to breakdown all the pieces on what happened. This topic is definitely dark and there is a lot of information to digest, but I really liked the writing style. I was engaged the whole time without feeling overwhelmed with too much detail. I would definitely read another book written by Ian Fitzgerald!

Thanks NetGalley and publisher for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

Cheynobal

I rarely give Non Fiction 5 stars !

Ian Fitzgerald reveals the details of how the accident occurred, the desperate response to the situation and the investigation and recriminations that followed. He asks what lessons can be learned - and what, if anything, we are doing to make sure they can never happen again.

I have always been interested in the story of Cheynobal and was excited to receive an audiobook for this. The audiobook was very well read, and i found myself not wanting to stop listening, which is unusual for me with nonfiction. I found it a really easy step by step breakdown of the events. This is definitely a great book for anyone who is interested in Cheynobal.

Thank you to Netgalley, Arcturus Audio  and Ian Fitzgerald for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Narrated by David Vickery ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Story by Ian Fitzgerald ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I love learning about Chernobyl. I have read, watched and listen to so many books and docs on it.

Even though alot of the information I've heard 1000 times over this was still brilliant and there was some real interesting things I hadn't heard before.

For someone who is coming in fresh learning about Chernobyl this audiobook is brilliant and I would highly recommend it.

I’ve read a few books on the subject and while this didn’t really add a new angle at all, it was well written and easy to understand and I could definitely recommend to someone looking for a basic history of events. Audiobook was well narrated.

This was so fascinating and I learned so much. The narration really worked and made a factual story really interesting. You can tell that this was so well researched.

I am recommending this to other people as I really do think it is an important read especially now. At the later stages it adds the current war

I was given an advance copy by the publishers and netgalley but the review is entirely my own.

A book that's been on my April TBR for the last 20 days, has now made it to the finished pile.
Taking you through the event of chain reactions that lead to the Chernobyl disaster, the book felt like a needle prick that doesn't bleed but hurts all the same. It starts from the very first nuclear attack and gradually introduces you to the situation in Russian Federation.

Some facts heard before, some new truth uncovered - the book called to me, to discover its pain. A lot of nonfiction books tend to get too much like a research paper, but not this one. It had all the technicalities and yet was written in a narrative style instead of a subjective essay. That made me read it all in full swing.

Thankyou @netgalley for the Digital ARC. The book was a welcome change

Genre: #nonfiction
Rating 4/5 ⭐️

I have previously seen various media relating to the disaster at Chernobyl, specifically TV documentary’s which I felt had not given a full account in one program but instead focused on specific areas.

This book felt well written and in the audiobook version the narrator has an authoritative tone.

The book starts pre-disaster, covering nuclear power generation and the soviet race to get power stations running, and touches on design and issues with different types of reactors, through to the successful start of generation, and the days and hours before disaster struck, and concludes with dealing with the fires and injured people immediately afterwards and long term. It is in-depth and doesn’t show bias towards a side (pro or anti nuclear power). The author touches nicely on safety measures in place at other power stations before and after the Chernobyl disaster.

The writers style allowed me to visualise the scenes, from the inside of the operating/control room, through the battle to bring the fire under control, and the aftermath.

My thanks to Arcturus Digital Audio for a review copy via NetGalley of the unabridged audiobook edition of ‘Chernobyl’ by Ian Fitzgerald. It is narrated by David Vickery.

The subtitle of this book pretty much sums up its content: ‘The Devastation, Destruction and Consequences of the World's Worst Radiation Accident’.

I originally read its ebook edition in July 2022 and welcomed the opportunity to revisit it via its recently released audiobook edition. Given that the book itself contains many photographs, I would say that this is a book well suited to a combined read/listen.

The audiobook’s narrator David Vickery has had a long career as a voice actor and broadcaster. He brings a sense of gravitas to his reading that is well suited to the subject matter.

Overall, I found the audiobook an excellent companion to this important book about the Chernobyl disaster.

What a fascinating insight not only into what happened at chenobyl but from a political point of view . So good I recommended to others to read , brilliant

From the day my grandmother showed me a layer of dust atop her garden gate and speculated about its origin, I've been interested in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Like many a physicist, I've read and watched quite a bit of material on this topic over the years but I nevertheless found that Chernobyl by Ian Fitzgerald offered some fresh perspectives. It sets the accident not only in the context of pressures within the USSR but also connects the accident to the current conflict in Ukraine and the varying international perspectives on nuclear energy.

The physics of fission and the series of errors that led to the accident are all covered in the first part of the book. We also hear a little about the lives of those involved and if you're interested in going into those stories in greater depth then Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy by Serhii Plokhy would be a an excellent complementary read.

Ian Fitzgerald bookends the Chernobyl story with information on previous and subsequent nuclear accidents. Overall, I felt he presented a reasonably balanced account, although I did think some of the statistics would have been more meaningful alongside the equivalent data for fossil fuels and renewables.

Overall, this was definitely worth a read and the audiobook was well narrated. Thanks for my review copy.

This is an absolutely incredible account of the Chernobyl disaster. It’s very well written, with excellent explanation of a lot of scientific stuff about nuclear fusion etc. but it’s written in a way that the Kay reader can understand. It starts with the background to the development of nuclear power and the use of radioactive elements. That was fascinating learning how the scientists were developing and delivering nuclear bombs whilst others were looking at a better use for the harnessed energy.

It refers to a number of earlier nuclear incidents and they’re all chilling. I have a particular interest in Chernobyl as I lived in an area of Wales that was affected by the fallout. One day shortly after the explosion, workers at a nuclear power station locally were triggering the ‘radioactive contamination’ alarms when they entered the site. Mostly they were those who had arrived on cycles or motorbikes and had gone through puddles. That was exceptional. We were told to stay indoors when it was drizzling and to wash clothes if we’d been out in the rain…as if! Immediate restrictions were placed on the movement and sale of livestock and many were slaughtered. Animals, particularly sheep were marked with a colour coded dye for years. Clearly, the effects of fallout from Chernobyl were widespread.

After listening to this story, it’s easy to understand how the ‘accident’ happened. It was almost inevitable and the scale of the disaster was unprecedented. The Russian culture of secrecy and blame ran through the entire event and its aftermath. Ian Fitzgerald’s account is engaging; there are stories of true heroism as individuals tried to save colleagues. This is not comfortable reading; it’s only a question of time before a similar disaster happens. If you’re looking for a readable account of this event, this is it. It’s well narrated throughout and there’s plenty of reason to understand that there’s always a cost to cheap energy. The human and animal toll is incalculable.

My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.