Midnight in Chernobyl

The Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster

By: Adam Higginbotham

Narrated by: Jacques Roy

One of AudioFile’s Best Audiobooks of 2019!

A New York Times Best Book of the Year
A Time Best Book of the Year
A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Year
2020 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence Winner

From journalist Adam Higginbotham, the New York Times bestselling “account that reads almost like the script for a movie” (The Wall Street Journal)—a powerful investigation into Chernobyl and how propaganda, secrecy, and myth have obscured the true story of one of the history’s worst nuclear disasters.

Early in the morning of April 26, 1986, Reactor Number Four of the Chernobyl Atomic Energy Station exploded, triggering one of the 20th century’s greatest disasters. 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 dangerous technology slipping its leash, for ecological fragility, and for what can happen when a dishonest and careless state endangers its citizens and the entire world. But the real story of the accident, clouded from the beginning by secrecy, propaganda, and misinformation, has long remained in dispute.

Drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews conducted over the course of more than ten years, as well as letters, unpublished memoirs, and documents from recently-declassified archives, Adam Higginbotham brings the disaster to life through the eyes of the men and women who witnessed it firsthand. The result is a “riveting, deeply reported reconstruction” (Los Angeles Times) and a definitive account of an event that changed history: a story that is more complex, more human, and more terrifying than the Soviet myth.

“The most complete and compelling history yet” (The Christian Science Monitor), Higginbotham’s “superb, enthralling, and necessarily terrifying...extraordinary” (The New York Times) book is an indelible portrait of the lessons learned when mankind seeks to bend the natural world to his will—lessons which, in the face of climate change and other threats, remain not just vital but necessary.

Critic reviews

"Jacques Roy's nuanced performance of Higginbotham's harrowing audiobook keeps listeners deeply engaged. . . . Roy's masterful narration enhances this stark and terrifying account of one of the worst disasters in human history."

Remembering The Time When...

I’m usually not into books of this sort because they tend to be long and drawn out and boring, especially when I remember when and how things happened and the stories that were kept “secret”.
Having grown up when hiding under your desks at school were thought to keep you safe and alive and part of every day life as practice with air raids was normal, this was another important event that children were not told...
I’m not a super intellectual woman, but I sat in bed one night with my earbuds in my ears, crocheting, making remarks so loud that my husband would often wake up and ask me to keep my remarks down because I kept waking him up.
This book kept me so interested that I “read” for over 6 hours straight away! He and I have had some interesting conversations and it just astounds me of the things that people have closed their eyes to...and how this can apply to things even today. Amazing! I have recommended this book to many people. It is a wonderful read once you get started. Some things are slow for some people, but I have always found science interesting anyways. My heart just goes out to all those involved...
I’m trying not to let “anything out of the bag”...enjoy the story...no, really!

Not bad

Fascinating story but made difficult to follow by the rapidly switching perspectives of 30-50 different Russian/Ukrainian individuals involved in the story. Each time a new character is introduced it adds a layer of confusion as more and more individuals are introduced and then revisited. May be easier to follow or more appreciated in the written medium. Narrator was solid though.

A Scary Story

Its been a long time since a book has made me this scared. The Russians are acting like little boys while this terrible tragedy unfolds. The depth and breadth of this nuclear disaster unfold in intense realism. You will lose sleep thinking about how this will not go away and could have been a lot worse.

Just Phenomenal

Absolutely loved it. Incredibly informative and read so well. I've watched several documentaries on this topic and ready a few other books, and this book still gave me information that I had not known before, and it breaks it down to where anyone can understand it. Highly recommended for anyone who is fascinated with the disaster like I am.

Blown away

A very interesting telling of this tragic accident. It was personal, not characters, but I felt like I got to know the people involved. And the voice of the narrator could not have been a better match to the story.