Thanks for these recommendations, Jeremy. I read On the Beach by Nevil Shute (published in 1957) around 16 years ago when I was in Australia. The storyline, which explored how different (fictional) people in Australia deal with the impending doom of nuclear fallout, has always stayed with me.
“This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper.”
Reading this made me feel sick: "...since that way the blast wave would cause incomparably larger damage. (...) And that is exactly how high our bombs were when they exploded above the roofs of those quaint wooden houses in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” Thanks for giving these recommendations about an important and devastating development in human history.
Dangit, Jeremy, I'm going to need you to slow down with all of these awesome recommendations. I can't keep up with the growing/tantalizing list you're giving me!!!
Wow what a great list! I’ve never heard of Swan Song which is mind blowing to me it sounds amazing. I’ve seen Nuclear War around on bookstagram and everyone says it’s terrifying.
One of the scariest books I ever read the past few years was: "One Hundred Miles from Home: Nuclear Contamination in the Communities of the Ohio River Valley : Mound, Paducah, Piketon, Fernald, Maxey Flats, and Jefferson Proving Ground" by Carol Rainey.
Another good one I read at the beginning of the year, was "Stalking the Atomic City :Life Among the Decadent and the Depraved of Chornobyl" by Markiyan Kamysh, about a guy from Ukraine who is one of many who illegally go into the Chernobyl area to explore. I like a good book on urban exploration and this one fit that bill to a T.
Here is the blurb from the publisher: ""Since the Chornobyl nuclear disaster in April 1986, the area still remains a toxic, forbidden wasteland. But as with all dangerous places, it attracts a wild assortment of adventurers who climb over the barbed wire in the middle of the night to witness the aftermath of catastrophe in the flesh. Markiyan Kamysh, whose father worked as an on-site disaster liquidator of Chornobyl, works as a "stalker," guiding people who dare to venture illegally into the disaster area for thrills. By turns lyrical and confessional, Stalking the Atomic City unveils the state of the site today and the unusual communities that have found a home in the desolate place known as the Exclusion Zone. Kamysh tells us about criminals who hide in the abandoned buildings, the policemen who chase them, and romantic utopists who have built families here, even as deadly toxic waste lingers in the buildings, playgrounds, and streams. An extraordinary guide to this alien world, Kamysh has unique access and expertise as well as a deep personal connection to this dystopian reality. Complete with stunning photographs by the author, Stalking the Atomic City is a haunting account of what total autonomy could mean in our growingly fractured world"
Thanks for these recommendations, Jeremy. I read On the Beach by Nevil Shute (published in 1957) around 16 years ago when I was in Australia. The storyline, which explored how different (fictional) people in Australia deal with the impending doom of nuclear fallout, has always stayed with me.
“This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper.”
Ah yes, that one is high on my list as well!
Reading this made me feel sick: "...since that way the blast wave would cause incomparably larger damage. (...) And that is exactly how high our bombs were when they exploded above the roofs of those quaint wooden houses in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” Thanks for giving these recommendations about an important and devastating development in human history.
Sickening and important indeed. Thanks Meredith!
Great choices, Jeremy! I also love War Day by Whitley Streiber and James Kunetka, a chillingly realistic picture of nuclear aftermath.
I'll add that to my list — haven't heard of it.
Dangit, Jeremy, I'm going to need you to slow down with all of these awesome recommendations. I can't keep up with the growing/tantalizing list you're giving me!!!
Haha thanks Chelsea!
Wow what a great list! I’ve never heard of Swan Song which is mind blowing to me it sounds amazing. I’ve seen Nuclear War around on bookstagram and everyone says it’s terrifying.
Swan Song is likely to end up on my year-end favorites list. Love love loved it.
And yes, Nuclear War is indeed terrifying. Bonkers and real — which makes it even scarier.
One of the scariest books I ever read the past few years was: "One Hundred Miles from Home: Nuclear Contamination in the Communities of the Ohio River Valley : Mound, Paducah, Piketon, Fernald, Maxey Flats, and Jefferson Proving Ground" by Carol Rainey.
Another good one I read at the beginning of the year, was "Stalking the Atomic City :Life Among the Decadent and the Depraved of Chornobyl" by Markiyan Kamysh, about a guy from Ukraine who is one of many who illegally go into the Chernobyl area to explore. I like a good book on urban exploration and this one fit that bill to a T.
Here is the blurb from the publisher: ""Since the Chornobyl nuclear disaster in April 1986, the area still remains a toxic, forbidden wasteland. But as with all dangerous places, it attracts a wild assortment of adventurers who climb over the barbed wire in the middle of the night to witness the aftermath of catastrophe in the flesh. Markiyan Kamysh, whose father worked as an on-site disaster liquidator of Chornobyl, works as a "stalker," guiding people who dare to venture illegally into the disaster area for thrills. By turns lyrical and confessional, Stalking the Atomic City unveils the state of the site today and the unusual communities that have found a home in the desolate place known as the Exclusion Zone. Kamysh tells us about criminals who hide in the abandoned buildings, the policemen who chase them, and romantic utopists who have built families here, even as deadly toxic waste lingers in the buildings, playgrounds, and streams. An extraordinary guide to this alien world, Kamysh has unique access and expertise as well as a deep personal connection to this dystopian reality. Complete with stunning photographs by the author, Stalking the Atomic City is a haunting account of what total autonomy could mean in our growingly fractured world"
Those both sound really interesting, thanks for sharing!