Adam Higginbotham writes for The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Wired, GQ, and Smithsonian. The author of Midnight in Chernobyl, he lives in New York City.
"There has been much reporting about the disaster, but no book has
so ably and artfully captured the whole story of what happened that
night and in the months and years that followed. With meticulous
details, careful research and a gripping narrative, Midnight in
Chernobyl is a must-read about nuclear power and the end of the
Soviet Union." --Time
"Exhaustively researched and critically acclaimed history of the
event." --The Los Angeles Times
"A new book offers perhaps the clearest, and fullest, look at the
catastrophe yet. Adam Higginbotham's Midnight in Chernobyl is a
compelling and comprehensive account of one awful night in Ukraine
and the consequences that were felt worldwide. Higginbotham's
observations, and his writing, are so sharp there is no need to
overdo anything for dramatic effect. Told so clearly and in such
detail, the story is dramatic -- and horrific -- enough."
--Undark
"In chilling detail, this book recounts the many missteps of their
response to the disaster. . . . Higginbotham compellingly suggests
that these flaws all but predicted the calamity--and, in turn, the
collapse of the Soviet Union itself." --The New Yorker
"Remarkable....a gripping narrative, undergirded with the forensic
detail of a courtroom drama." --Foreign Policy
"May be the most frightening book readers will pick up in 2019. . .
. Higginbotham's skill in building minute-by-minute suspense during
the accident itself and his characterizations of both survivors and
victims make the book a page-turner." --Lincoln Journal Star
"A riveting, deeply reported reconstruction . . . In this powerful
work of reportage, Chernobyl and its aftermath emerge as the Soviet
Union's last stand, containing all the pathologies and passion of
that social experiment now lost to history." --The Los Angeles
Times
"A colorful, well-researched book, which explains the scientific
and political background clearly." --The Times Literary
Supplement
"A gripping miss-your-subway-stop read . . . Higginbotham captures
the nerve-racked Soviet atmosphere brilliantly." --The New York
Times Book Review
"Higginbotham's scrupulously reported book catalogues the chain of
events that occasionally reads as stranger than fiction. The book
is more than a gripping history that recounts in great detail
events at the reactors; it also offers contextual insights into the
Soviet era that help to explain how such a failure could occur. . .
. As is the case with many great nonfiction books, it has the
urgency and intrigue of the very best thrillers." --Wired
"More harrowing than any horror movie and more gripping than any
thriller. . . Higginbotham creates a history book with the headlong
pacing of fiction. . . . Read it to be scared. Read it to be angry.
Read it because Higginbotham is a great writer in total control of
his material. Just read it. This book will haunt you forever."
--The Oklahoman
" Superb, enthralling and necessarily terrifying . . . the accident
unfurls with a horrible inevitability. Weaving together the
experiences of those who were there that night, Higginbotham
marshals the details so meticulously that every step feels
spring-loaded with tension. . . . Amid so much rich reporting and
scrupulous analysis, some major themes emerge. . . . Higginbotham's
extraordinary book is another advance in the long struggle to fill
in some of the gaps, bringing much of what was hidden into the
light." --Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times
"Midnight in Chernobyl is wonderful and chilling. . . . Adam
Higginbotham tells the story of the disaster and its gruesome
aftermath with thriller-like flair. . . . It is a tale of hubris
and doomed ambition, featuring Communist party bosses and hapless
engineers, victims and villains, confusion and cover-up." --The
Guardian
"In fascinating detail, Higginbotham chronicles how the drama
played out, showing that Soviet hubris in part led to the accident
and Soviet secrecy compounded it." --Newsday
"This is a highly detailed, carefully documented, beautifully
narrated telling of this breathtakingly complex accident and its
mitigation. Higginbotham's handling of the sociopolitical context
is also deft." --Nature
"Written with authority, this superb book reads like a classic
disaster story and reveals a Soviet empire on the brink. . . . [A]
vivid and exhaustive account."--Kirkus, Starred Review
"Highly readable . . . Higginbotham [is] a skilled science writer.
. . . Mr. Higginbotham's book reflects extensive on-the-scene
research. . . . Disaster was inevitable, and Mr. Higginbotham
vividly describes the futile attempts of engineers to bring a
runaway reactor under control." --The Washington Times
"The book reads like an adventure novel, but it's a richly
researched non-fiction work by a brilliant storyteller. . . . Get
and read this gripping account to understand why people are still
so afraid of nuclear power." --Skeptic Magazine's Science Salon
"The most complete and compelling history yet written in English of
the worst nuclear power plant meltdown in history." --The Christian
Science Monitor
"Midnight in Chernobyl is top-notch historical narrative: a tense,
fast-paced, engrossing, and revelatory product of more than a
decade of research. . . . A stunningly detailed account . . . For
all its wealth of information, the work never becomes overwhelming
or difficult to follow. Higginbotham humanizes the tale,
maintaining a focus on the people involved and the choices, both
heroic and not, they made in unimaginable circumstances. This is an
essential human tale with global consequences."--Booklist, Starred
Review
"A compelling, panoramic account."--The Christian Science Monitor
"An account that reads almost like the script for a movie . . . Mr.
Higginbotham has captured the terrible drama." --The Wall Street
Journal
"Spellbinding... profound... an enthralling account of the disaster
and its fallout."--Bookpage
"Adam Higginbotham's Midnight at Chernobyl is a superb account of
the catastrophic accident that occurred in the No 4 reactor of the
Chernobyl nuclear power station in 1986. Higginbotham's research is
thorough and enlightening; much has emerged about what really
happened following the fall of the Soviet Union. An experienced
journalist, he makes the complex historical, political, technical,
and human aspects of this dramatic story intelligible. His book is
a pleasure to read."--Piers Paul Read, award-winning author of
Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors
"Adam Higginbotham's brilliantly well-written Midnight In Chernobyl
draws on new sources and original research to illuminate the true
story of one of history's greatest technological failures--and,
along with it, the bewildering reality of everyday life during the
final years of the Soviet Union."-- Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer
Prize-winning author of Gulag: A History and Red Famine: Stalin's
War On Ukraine
"Here is a triumph of investigative reportage, exquisite science
writing, and heart-pounding storytelling. With Midnight in
Chernobyl, Adam Higginbotham gives us a glimpse of Armageddon, but
carries it off with such narrative verve that he somehow makes it
entertaining. One thing is assured: After reading this astonishing,
terrifying book, you will never think of nuclear power in quite the
same way again." --Hampton Sides, author of In the Kingdom of Ice
and On Desperate Ground
"Midnight in Chernobyl is the most thorough and scrupulously
reported book to appear on the greatest nuclear disaster of the
20th century. Attentive and humane, it is also a gripping read on
the tragic intersection of nuclear and Soviet power."--Keith
Gessen, author of A Terrible Country and translator of Voices from
Chernobyl
"A definitive book. Adam Higginbotham has written a wonderful and
chilling account of how the Chernobyl disaster happened, featuring
protagonists and victims, party bosses and hapless engineers,
confusion and cover up. The story of how the reactor exploded and
its grisly aftermath are told with thriller-like flair.
Higginbotham captures the scientific and the human, in a tale of
hubris and doomed ambition."--Luke Harding, New York Times
bestselling author of Collusion and The Snowden Files
"A masterpiece of reporting and storytelling that puts us on the
ground for one of the most important events of the twentieth
century. Adam Higginbotham opens a world nearly impossible to
penetrate, then finds truths inside we weren't supposed to
discover. As readers, we could not hope for a more thrilling and
visceral adventure. As citizens of the world, we ignore Midnight in
Chernobyl at our peril."--Robert Kurson, New York Times bestselling
author of Shadow Divers and Rocket Men
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