Glenn Cheney is also the author of more than fifteen works of non-fiction and fiction, including: They Never Knew: The Victims of Nuclear Testing (1996); Nuclear Proliferation: Problems and Possibilities (1998), and Journey on the Estrada Real: Encounters in the Mountains of Brazil (2003). He lives in Connecticut with his wife.
"His observations about life in the former Soviet Union in the
shadow of the Chernobyl disaster are vivid, insightful and
thought-provoking."
- U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman
From "Publishers Weekly
"In 1991, Cheney, who teaches writing at Connecticut College, went
to Ukraine to learn the circumstances of the world's deadliest
nuclear accident and to interview the people who were affected by
it. In this brief, informal report, this self-appointed
investigator describes his travel adventures (with an expired visa)
and his encounters with officials and victims of the Chernobyl
catastrophe. Cheney made a daring visit to the nuclear ghost town
of Propyat, originally built for Chernobyl's workers, and relates
how they were forced to abandon their homes and possessions to
escape the effects of nuclear radiation. The statistics are not yet
confirmed, but evidence Cheney gathered indicates that at least
8000 people died as a result of the meltdown, with another 30,000
presently suffering from diseases related to radiation. His
poignant account humanizes the events of April 26, 1986, at
Chernobyl. Photos.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Cheney (composition, Connecticut Coll.) traveled to Russia and
Ukraine on a UN-sponsored mission in December 1991, at the time the
USSR formally split apart. The ensuing confusion made it easier for
him to come and go as he pleased and to talk freely with persons
near Chernobyl who were eager to share their experiences of the
1986 explosion and their fears for their futures. Neither a nuclear
nor a Soviet expert, he discerns no pattern among these stories
except a probable government cover-up; his evidence for this
allegation is nothing new. Even the medical personnel he
interviewed admitted that the health problems they saw could have
been caused as much by poverty, malnutrition, and alcohol abuse as
by radiation exposure. At times Cheney's primary interest in
describing his arduous travels causes his focus to drift from the
effects of radiation exposure on the populace. Not recommended.
[For another account, see Alla Yaroshinskaya's Chernobyl, reviewed
on p. 204.?Ed.] ?Marcia L. Sprules, Council on Foreign Relations
Lib., New York.
"- Marcia L. Sprules, Council on Foreign Relations Lib., New
York"
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
"A useful and affecting look at the aftermath of a disaster we are
only now beginning to understand." Kirkus Reviews
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
