Adam Higginbotham on how the Chernobyl nuclear disaster was like the Titanic

The Chernobyl nuclear disaster dominated headlines after the Soviet reactor exploded on April 25, 1986. But there’s more to the story. Author Adam Higginbotham goes beyond the oft-told narrative in his latest book, “Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster.”

In a Times video interview from the Festival of Books, Higginbotham explained how the book helps draw parallels to another historic man-made tragedy.

“I think it’s an eternal story,” he shared. “It’s like the Titanic disaster. It represents a cross-section of, in this, case Soviet society, and exposes the kind of cowardice and bravery of individual human beings.”