CHOSEN AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY SUNDAY TIMES AND HISTORY TODAY 'Absolutely stunning. . . a
formidable achievement. A six-part historical thriller that is essential reading for both our
politicians and the ordinary citizen' Kai Bird Best-selling historian Serhii Plokhy returns
with an illuminating exploration of the atomic age through the history of six nuclear disasters
In 2011 a 43-foot-high tsunami crashed into a nuclear power plant in Fukushima Japan. In the
following days explosions would rip buildings apart three reactors would go into nuclear
meltdown and the surrounding area would be swamped in radioactive water. It is now considered
one of the costliest nuclear disasters ever. But Fukushima was not the first and it was not
the worst. . . In Atoms and Ashes acclaimed historian Serhii Plokhy tells the tale of the six
nuclear disasters that shook the world: Bikini Atoll Kyshtym Windscale Three Mile Island
Chernobyl and Fukushima. Based on wide-ranging research and witness testimony Plokhy traces
the arc of each crisis exploring in depth the confused decision-making on the ground and the
panicked responses of governments to contain the crises and often cover up the scale of the
catastrophe. As the world increasingly looks to renewable and alternative sources of energy
Plokhy lucidly argues that the atomic risk must be understood in explicit terms but also that
these calamities reveal a fundamental truth about our relationship with nuclear technology:
that the thirst for power and energy has always trumped safety and the cost for future
generations.
