Prolific Ukrainian historian has not only written often about his own country, but he is also author of one of the classic nuclear histories, Chernobyl: The History of a Nuclear Catastrophe, and another nuclear history, so when Russia occupied the Chernobyl plant during the first month or so of its invasion of Ukraine, it naturally fell to him to put out the first book on the troubling event. Chernobyl Roulette: A War Story, short at 240 pages, has the feel of a rushed affair, as many “first on the scene” accounts do. Using Ukrainian interviews, Plokhy describes the 35 days in detailed prose that does the job but perhaps lacks the usual nuance of his other histories. Certainly there was potential for a disaster if the new containment structure locking away the Reactor No. 4 shell were to be blown up or if any of the still highly radioactive areas of the Exclusion Zones were stirred up, spreading radioactive dust, but the threat was less than was the case (and still is) at the huge Zaporizhia nuclear station. Nonetheless, Chernobyl Roulette is a handy and timely historical record that would interest anyone keeping up to date on nuclear energy.
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