--- product_id: 131177088 title: "Voices from Chernobyl (Lannan Selection)" price: "£15.90" currency: GBP in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/131177088-voices-from-chernobyl-lannan-selection store_origin: GB region: United Kingdom --- # Voices from Chernobyl (Lannan Selection) **Price:** £15.90 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Voices from Chernobyl (Lannan Selection) - **How much does it cost?** £15.90 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.uk](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/131177088-voices-from-chernobyl-lannan-selection) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description An account of the worst nuclear reactor accident in history from the 2015 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident contaminated as much as three quarters of Europe. Voices from Chernobyl is the first book to present personal accounts of the tragedy. Journalist Svetlana Alexievich interviewed hundreds of people affected by the meltdown—from innocent citizens to firefighters to those called in to clean up the disaster—and their stories reveal the fear, anger, and uncertainty with which they still live. Composed of interviews in monologue form, Voices from Chernobyl is a crucially important work of immense force, unforgettable in its emotional power and honesty and a National Book Critics Circle Award winner. Review: Harrowing & Unique Account of Chernobyl - I'll readily admit that I was not familiar with Svetlana Alexievich until she was named the 2015 Nobel Prize recipient for Literature. After reading about her, I was intrigued by her approach of extensively interviewing people and using their verbatims to create a coherent account about a specific subject. I had yet to read something of any length that employed such an approach and was eager to see how effective and engaging this method of storytelling could be. I was 16 at the time of Chernobyl and remember it as one of those defining Cold War moments of my youth like the 1980 US-USSR hockey game, the downing of KAL 007 or Reagan's speech at the Berlin Wall. As with many in the West, my perspective was garnered from how it was covered in the West, much of the information at the time limited given how carefully choreographed information from the USSR was and limited Western access to people closest to the disaster. A few years ago, I revisited the topic by reading a kindle single "The Chernobyl Nuclear Accident" put out by the NYT which contained all of its main coverage of the accident. The opportunity to "witness" the disaster from the inside, no less through Alexievich's unique approach, was enough to make me pick up this book. Reading "Voices of Chernobyl" is an eerie and unnerving experience. The magnitude of the Chernobyl accident is almost unfathomable and reading first person accounts about the untold physical, emotional and psychological damage is quite harrowing. Of course, the accounts of the physical suffering are almost too shocking to digest and will leave anyone's stomach turning. However, it is the massive state apparatus that covered up the real danger and sacrificed tens of thousands of its own people to the unspeakable levels of radioactive emissions, told through disillusioned, angry, devastated individuals that makes for a remarkable read. "Voices of Chernobyl" works so well because of the Alexievich's deep research and brilliant ability to piece together the right first person accounts in such a compelling narrative. I became convinced by the time I finished this book that the raw and unique emotional power "Voices of Chernobyl" could not have been achieved through a more traditional journalist account. Review: An assemblage of dysphoric and dire vignettes that are stirring and transformative. - Through a series of beautifully crafted monologues by journalist Svetlana Alexievich, a candidate for the 2014 Nobel Prize in Literature, she gives a voice to the voiceless by offering a literary megaphone to the citizens in, around and beyond Pripyat, Russa who experienced the all out lethal aftereffects of when the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant experienced a cataclysmic meltdown on April 26, 1986. With navigational restraint and skill, she interviews those who survived the ordeal first and secondhand, and for those who did not survive, the flame of their memory was carried on by those loved ones who were left behind in the radioactive hell that Alexievich brings so descriptively back to life. By applying her literary aptitude and journalistic acumen, she enables these victims and survivors their dirge or aria of woe to be humanely and candidly expressed. She tells tales that are more grim than fanciful, of homes and villages abandoned, radioactive pets and farm animals hunted down and executed, of mutated children and citizens literally melting away due to the radioactive toxicity that was, by degrees, slowly killing them. Alexievich is also very astute at conveying the tyrannical old party Communist belief system that was held by the victims and survivors of Chernobyl before and after the nuclear disaster. The Chernobyl “cleanup” crew and others of the same cloth were spurred on by thoughts of heroic mother country illustriousness and beliefs of Soviet indomitability while others were propelled by a more capitalistic inspiration, that by being involved with the mop-up after the tragedy, they would benefit somehow monetarily and materialistically. And so, they willingly threw themselves into the epicenter of the nuclear monster, only to come out severely contaminated with dashed hopes and chintzy medals for their valiant efforts. Cold war politics and ideologies aside, when Chernobyl exploded, it melted something other than the physically tangible reactor and those who inhabited in and around it. The deadly blast melted away a long-held idology, a Communist philosophy that failed its people. It was, in some respects, the beginning of the end in many ways. Like other great literary journalists and writers: Ernest Hemmingway, Joan Didion, Ryszard Kapuscinski (just to name a few), Alexievich is a powerful writer, who, with gusto and tenacity really throws herself into the story she is trying to tell. She too was born and schooled near where Chernobyl loomed, like an overwhelming Mt. Everest, and it was fitting that it was she who chose to tell this story. If a picture is worth a thousand words, than these monologues are worth far more. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #49,181 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #1 in Nuclear Engineering (Books) #19 in Disaster Relief (Books) #60 in Russian History (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 stars 2,794 Reviews | ## Images ![Voices from Chernobyl (Lannan Selection) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61MCOmHDoTL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Harrowing & Unique Account of Chernobyl *by W***O on January 12, 2016* I'll readily admit that I was not familiar with Svetlana Alexievich until she was named the 2015 Nobel Prize recipient for Literature. After reading about her, I was intrigued by her approach of extensively interviewing people and using their verbatims to create a coherent account about a specific subject. I had yet to read something of any length that employed such an approach and was eager to see how effective and engaging this method of storytelling could be. I was 16 at the time of Chernobyl and remember it as one of those defining Cold War moments of my youth like the 1980 US-USSR hockey game, the downing of KAL 007 or Reagan's speech at the Berlin Wall. As with many in the West, my perspective was garnered from how it was covered in the West, much of the information at the time limited given how carefully choreographed information from the USSR was and limited Western access to people closest to the disaster. A few years ago, I revisited the topic by reading a kindle single "The Chernobyl Nuclear Accident" put out by the NYT which contained all of its main coverage of the accident. The opportunity to "witness" the disaster from the inside, no less through Alexievich's unique approach, was enough to make me pick up this book. Reading "Voices of Chernobyl" is an eerie and unnerving experience. The magnitude of the Chernobyl accident is almost unfathomable and reading first person accounts about the untold physical, emotional and psychological damage is quite harrowing. Of course, the accounts of the physical suffering are almost too shocking to digest and will leave anyone's stomach turning. However, it is the massive state apparatus that covered up the real danger and sacrificed tens of thousands of its own people to the unspeakable levels of radioactive emissions, told through disillusioned, angry, devastated individuals that makes for a remarkable read. "Voices of Chernobyl" works so well because of the Alexievich's deep research and brilliant ability to piece together the right first person accounts in such a compelling narrative. I became convinced by the time I finished this book that the raw and unique emotional power "Voices of Chernobyl" could not have been achieved through a more traditional journalist account. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ An assemblage of dysphoric and dire vignettes that are stirring and transformative. *by C***R on February 11, 2015* Through a series of beautifully crafted monologues by journalist Svetlana Alexievich, a candidate for the 2014 Nobel Prize in Literature, she gives a voice to the voiceless by offering a literary megaphone to the citizens in, around and beyond Pripyat, Russa who experienced the all out lethal aftereffects of when the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant experienced a cataclysmic meltdown on April 26, 1986. With navigational restraint and skill, she interviews those who survived the ordeal first and secondhand, and for those who did not survive, the flame of their memory was carried on by those loved ones who were left behind in the radioactive hell that Alexievich brings so descriptively back to life. By applying her literary aptitude and journalistic acumen, she enables these victims and survivors their dirge or aria of woe to be humanely and candidly expressed. She tells tales that are more grim than fanciful, of homes and villages abandoned, radioactive pets and farm animals hunted down and executed, of mutated children and citizens literally melting away due to the radioactive toxicity that was, by degrees, slowly killing them. Alexievich is also very astute at conveying the tyrannical old party Communist belief system that was held by the victims and survivors of Chernobyl before and after the nuclear disaster. The Chernobyl “cleanup” crew and others of the same cloth were spurred on by thoughts of heroic mother country illustriousness and beliefs of Soviet indomitability while others were propelled by a more capitalistic inspiration, that by being involved with the mop-up after the tragedy, they would benefit somehow monetarily and materialistically. And so, they willingly threw themselves into the epicenter of the nuclear monster, only to come out severely contaminated with dashed hopes and chintzy medals for their valiant efforts. Cold war politics and ideologies aside, when Chernobyl exploded, it melted something other than the physically tangible reactor and those who inhabited in and around it. The deadly blast melted away a long-held idology, a Communist philosophy that failed its people. It was, in some respects, the beginning of the end in many ways. Like other great literary journalists and writers: Ernest Hemmingway, Joan Didion, Ryszard Kapuscinski (just to name a few), Alexievich is a powerful writer, who, with gusto and tenacity really throws herself into the story she is trying to tell. She too was born and schooled near where Chernobyl loomed, like an overwhelming Mt. Everest, and it was fitting that it was she who chose to tell this story. If a picture is worth a thousand words, than these monologues are worth far more. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Powerful Book That Reveals the Real Legacy of Chernobyl ... *by D***E on November 7, 2011* Having read a Soviet nuclear engineer's account of the Chernobyl accident (THE TRUTH ABOUT CHERNOBYL), followed by a reporter's pictorial coverage (CHERNOBYL: CONFESSIONS OF A REPORTER); I was still missing an angle of the accident that would bring my superficial education on the subject to a close ... personal accounts from the people who lived through it. With so few resources published on the event, Svetlana Alexievich's VOICES FROM CHERNOBYL stands alone in representing those who quietly and bravely endured the detrimental impact the Chernobyl disaster had (and continues to have) on their lives. With VOICES FROM CHERNOBYL, Alexievich provides a platform that breaks the silence of the Soviet citizens who appeared to dutifully absorb everything the Chernobyl disaster brought their way (shame, bitterness, despair, fear and an unhealthy dose of radiation). The book is organized into three chapters (Land of the Dead, Land of the Living and Amazed by Sadness) with each chapter consisting of monologues (`voices") from those who experienced the disaster from the initial explosion to the lingering effects that exist today. The monologues are honest; with no unnecessary influence or clarification from Alexievich ... they range in size from a few paragraphs to a few pages. Collectively, the monologues represent almost every facet of life affected by Chernobyl: children (now grown), liquidators (the men responsible for "putting out" the nuclear fire), peasant villagers, doctors, scientists, political officials and ordinary citizens. Most all the monologues reflect pain and suffering in some manner and reading them is quite a somber experience. Quite frequently, the monologues refer directly to another deadly occurrence that bestowed another lingering state of suffering to the region ... World War II. That there are so many references to the war illustrates how dire the circumstances were following the Chernobyl accident. Whether it be forced evacuation, a mandatory surrender of property or the land being scorched (by a retreating army or by radiation) ... the parallels are evident to many of those old enough to experience both. Even leaving the region did not alleviate the suffering as many monologues account for bouts of illness possibly brought on by exposure to radiation, the abandonment of pets, homes and belongings or the social pariah of being a transplant from the region (and a potential carrier of radiation). The emotional tone of the "voices" ranges from defeatism to total defiance (including those who bravely returned to their poisoned homes). VOICES OF CHERNOBYL is both sad and eye opening. The raw nature of people speaking their minds on the issue doesn't alleviate the mystery that still looms over the entire event, however. What the book does is allow the reader to peek behind the veil of silence that has be prevalent for 25 years (and counting). Sure there is likely to be some embellishment in some monologues, but the general message is that the Chernobyl disaster has never really "gone away" and the lingering effects are bad enough to draw comparisons to World War II. Unfortunately, VOICES OF CHERNOBYL only serves as a microcosm of the total number of those affected by the Chernobyl accident, but the impact of these few voices is powerful nonetheless. ## Frequently Bought Together - Voices from Chernobyl - Chernobyl - Chernobyl 01 --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/131177088-voices-from-chernobyl-lannan-selection](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/131177088-voices-from-chernobyl-lannan-selection) --- *Product available on Desertcart United Kingdom* *Store origin: GB* *Last updated: 2026-06-07*