Tammy's Reviews > Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster

As I watched the HBO miniseries about Chernobyl, I thought incessantly about the people: the first responders, the farmers, the children. In short, the entire affected population. Lies were told, contaminated food consumed, lives were lost and are still being lost. The human cost is incalculable and ongoing to this day. Chernobyl should not be referred to as an “accident.” It was, and is, an unimaginable disaster. It destroyed an empire, demoralized a people and shocked the world. This anthology (published in 1997) makes public the profound physical and psychological effects both during and after the disaster. The people speak. Over and over again you read “We didn’t know. We believed. You can’t understand. It was like a war zone.” Their experiences are difficult to read, searing, and essential. Let us hope Fukushima Daiichi is the last nuclear disaster to occur.