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Atoms and Ashes
- Author
- Serhii Plokhy
- Narrator
- Leighton Pugh
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date
- 16 July 2022
- Run Time
- 12 hours 8 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
A chilling account of seventy years of nuclear catastrophes, by the author of the “definitive” (Economist) Cold War history, Nuclear Folly.
Nuclear energy was embraced across the globe at the height of the nuclear industry in the 1960s and 1970s; today, there are 440 nuclear reactors operating throughout the world, with nuclear power providing ten percent of world electricity. Yet as the world seeks to reduce carbon emissions to combat climate change, the question arises: Just how safe is nuclear energy?
Atoms and Ashes recounts the dramatic history of nuclear accidents that have dogged the industry in its military and civil incarnations since the 1950s. Through the stories of six terrifying major incidents―Bikini Atoll, Kyshtym, Windscale, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima―Cold War expert Serhii Plokhy explores the risks of nuclear power, both for military and peaceful purposes, while offering a vivid account of how individuals and governments make decisions under extraordinary circumstances. Atoms and Ashes provides a crucial perspective on the most dangerous nuclear disasters of the past, in order to safeguard our future.
Critics Review
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“Absolutely stunning. Atoms and Ashes is a formidable achievement…Plokhy has written a six-part historical thriller that is essential reading for both our politicians and the ordinary citizen."
Kai Bird, Pulitzer Prize–winning author
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“[A] frightening new history of nuclear disasters across the world….With catastrophic climate change bearing down on us, nuclear power has been promoted by some as an obvious solution, but this sobering history urges us to look hard at that bargain for what it is.”
New York Times Book Review
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“[An] enthralling study of the atomic age and its perils…. meticulously researched history … [and] also a timely read.”
Financial Times (London)
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Details
- Author
- Serhii Plokhy
- Narrator
- Leighton Pugh
- Duration
- 12 hours 8 minutes
- Release Date
- 16 July 2022
- ISBN
- 9798200992065
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Genre
- General and world history, Nuclear power and engineering, Social impact of disasters
Synopsis
A chilling account of seventy years of nuclear catastrophes, by the author of the “definitive” (Economist) Cold War history, Nuclear Folly.Nuclear energy was embraced across the globe at the height of the nuclear industry in the 1960s and 1970s; today, there are 440 nuclear reactors operating throughout the world, with nuclear power providing ten percent of world electricity. Yet as the world seeks to reduce carbon emissions to combat climate change, the question arises: Just how safe is nuclear energy?Atoms and Ashes recounts the dramatic history of nuclear accidents that have dogged the industry in its military and civil incarnations since the 1950s. Through the stories of six terrifying major incidents―Bikini Atoll, Kyshtym, Windscale, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima―Cold War expert Serhii Plokhy explores the risks of nuclear power, both for military and peaceful purposes, while offering a vivid account of how individuals and governments make decisions under extraordinary circumstances. Atoms and Ashes provides a crucial perspective on the most dangerous nuclear disasters of the past, in order to safeguard our future.
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