Midnight in Chernobyl
{{Short description|2019 non-fiction book by Adam Higginbotham}}{{Infobox book
| image = Midnight in Chernobyl.jpg
| author = Adam Higginbotham
| pub_date = 2019
| publisher = Simon & Schuster
| caption = First edition
}}
{{Italic title}}
Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster (2019) by Adam Higginbotham is a history of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster that occurred in Soviet Ukraine in 1986. It won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction in 2020. Higginbotham spent more than a decade interviewing eyewitnesses and reviewing documents from the disaster, including some that were recently declassified.{{cite web |url=https://thebulletin.org/2019/05/the-human-drama-of-chernobyl/ |title=The human drama of Chernobyl |work=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists |author=Dawn Stover |date=May 5, 2019 |accessdate=September 10, 2020}} Higginbotham considers it the first English-language account that is close to the truth.
Reception
According to Book Marks, the book received "positive" reviews based on 10 critic reviews with 6 being "rave" and 2 being "positive" and 1 being "mixed" and 1 being "pan".{{Cite web |title=Midnight in Chernobyl
|url=https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/midnight-in-chernobyl-the-untold-story-of-the-worlds-greatest-nuclear-disaster/ |access-date=16 January 2024 |website=Book Marks}} In Books in the Media, a site that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received 4.18 out of 5 from the site which was based on 6 critic reviews.{{Cite web |title=Midnight in Chernobyl Reviews|url=https://booksinthemedia.thebookseller.com/reviews/midnight-in-chernobyl |access-date=11 July 2024 |website=Books in the Media|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201162032/https://booksinthemedia.thebookseller.com/reviews/midnight-in-chernobyl |archive-date=1 Dec 2021}} On Bookmarks Magazine May/June 2019 issue, a magazine that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a 4.0 out of 5 based on critic reviews with a critical summary saying, "Higginbotham meticulously documents the details of this disaster and its aftermath in a narrative that the New York Times critic attests is “superb, enthralling and necessarily terrifying” and unfurls with a “horrible inevitability."{{Cite web |title=Midnight in Chernobyl|pages=33|url=https://www.bookmarksmagazine.com/uploads/1/2/3/6/123678800/newbooksguide-20190506.pdf|access-date=14 January 2023 |website=Bookmarks Magazine}}
Awards and honors
- 2019 The New York Times Ten Best Books{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/06/books/review-midnight-chernobyl-adam-higginbotham.html |title=An Enthralling and Terrifying History of the Nuclear Meltdown at Chernobyl |work=The New York Times |author=Jennifer Szalai |date=February 6, 2019 |accessdate=September 10, 2020}}
- 2020 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction{{cite web|url= https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/nation-world/story/2020-03-23/valeria-luisellis-lost-children-archive-wins-folio-prize |title= Valeria Luiselli's 'Lost Children Archive' wins Folio Prize |author= Associated Press |work= The San Diego Union-Tribune |date= March 24, 2020 |access-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231226100401/https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/nation-world/story/2020-03-23/valeria-luisellis-lost-children-archive-wins-folio-prize |url-status=live}}{{cite web|url= https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/luiselli-higginbotham-win-ala-carnegie-medals/ |title= Luiselli, Higginbotham Win ALA's Carnegie Medals |first= Michael |last= Schaub |work= Kirkus Reviews |date= January 22, 2020 |access-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231226100331/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/luiselli-higginbotham-win-ala-carnegie-medals/ |url-status=live}}
References
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Category:2019 non-fiction books
Category:Books about the Chernobyl disaster
Category:Books about the history of science
Category:History books about the Soviet Union
Category:Simon & Schuster books
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