I thought the show was brilliant. Nightmarish, and hard to stop thinking about. One of my first jobs was working on presentation materials for a book on Chernob

I thought the show was brilliant. Nightmarish, and hard to stop thinking about. One of my first jobs was working on presentation materials for a book on Chernobyl. This was quite some time ago, but the photos and the story have always stuck with me. What I didn’t really grasp until watching the show was how strong a case could be made that (despite the common narratives) Chernobyl was the real catalyst for the fall of the USSR. Epic, expensive, embarrassing, disaster only a short time before the fall. I was fine with the creative liberties the show takes. You have to. Otherwise you should just have people read five books on the subject. But books don’t reach as many people and television is a strong medium in its own right. A lot of the criticism feels like “the book was better than the movie” arguments. For the most well rounded impression of actual events, do both! Read the books, and watch the drama. But keep in mind that humans are driven by stories and narrative. The “official” events are a narrative, as is the reporting, the opinion columns, and yes, the show too.