A surprising history of the Chernobyl accident. Surprising at a number of levels, not least the (small) number of direct deaths, which I always had the impression was higher. Plokhy links the events into the wider run of Soviet (and, later, Russian and Ukrainian) history, seeing the accident as a catalyst for the political changes that followed. While I’d’ve enjoyed more technical detail, the breadth and depth are welcome.

4/5. Finished Tuesday 17 December, 2019.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)