Plokhy's work is a great follow up to his recent work, both on nuclear weapons and Ukraine. This book, while not quite history in the formal sense, makes an incredible contribution to our understanding of the dangers of war and of the nuclear power; it makes the case that nuclear power, even when not in the form of a missile, can still be used as a tool of war, putting millions of lives at risk,

The book, in Plokhy's typical writing style, reads like a genuine thriller. I am amazed at how he came about getting the sources he did in such a short amount of time, considering as well the current condition of Ukraine. I would have liked to have read some more from him about this in an afterwords, but I will certainly settle for some Youtubed interviews.

What ultimately stands out in this book is just how much was not truly known about the Russian invasion and subsequent capture of Chernobyl. It is made clear in several instances just how foolish the Russian army was, for the sake of following orders. Plokhy does not let Ukraine off of the hook, though. He details how Zelenskyy's reticence towards preparing for invasion made the first few days worse. His insistence to put blame on western allies for not stepping up was irritating to read, considering how he has developed an image of empathy and even-handedness in American media.

Plokhy makes the case that the events following the invasion constituted a second "Chernobyl" crisis. These events certainly built off of the first. Chernobyl would not have been so newsworthy without its history (case in point- how much did people know about Zaporizhia?) While I don't think that it obviously rises to the effects of the events of 1986, it still created a sense of tension and held breathes as fighting and invasions drew closer. Furthermore, he makes the case that a truly horrifying disaster was ultimately averted but the lessons may not really have been learned.