Book cover. In April 1986 a series of explosions shook the Chernobyl nuclear reactor. While officials tried to hush up the accident, Svetlana Alexievich spent years collecting testimonies from survivors - crafting their voices into a haunting oral history of fear, anger and uncertainty, but also dark humour and love. In the cover, type rises up from the debris of the disaster, much like the author uncovering the survivors’ stories in the interviews.