Books Recommended by Craig Mazin
Craig Mazin is a professional screenwriter, born and based in New York. He’s known as the creator, writer and executive producer of Chernobyl TV series for HBO and Sky Television, a five-part miniseries about the nuclear disaster, that was released in 2019.
He began his career in the mid ’90s, at Walt Disney, but he’s worked in all genres in the past 20 years. He’s written Identity Thief, The Hangover Part II and III, The Huntsman: Winter’s War, Superhero Movie, and others.
In 2011, Mazin started co-hosting the Scriptnotes podcast with fellow screenwriter John August, a weekly show where they talk about screenwriting and topics related to the film and TV industry. He’s also a co-host of The Chernobyl Podcast along Peter Sagal.
Books recommended by Craig Mazin:
8 books recommended by Craig Mazin
Ablaze: The Story of the Heroes and Victims of Chernobyl
ABLAZE is a very well-done book from a Western historical perspective. As with a number of the books I read, it's a bit outdated simply because of when it was written, but it's an excellent recounting.
Chernobyl 01:23:40: The Incredible True Story of the World’s Worst Nuclear Disaster
Andrew's book is a fantastic combination of travelogue and historic and scientific recounting of the Chernobyl disaster, and I found it incredibly helpful. Plus... he's a great guy! Buy this one!
Chernobyl Record: The Definitive History of the Chernobyl Catastrophe
by R.F Mould
Two others worth considering (although they are often hard to find) that rounded out my library...
Chernobyl: Insight from the Inside by VM Chernousenko
Chernobyl Record by RF Mould
Chernobyl: A Documentary Story
Chernobyl: A Documentary Story by Iurii Scherbak has some amazing stuff from a Ukrainian and Soviet perspective, including some remarkable exchanges with Legasov himself.
Chernobyl: Insight from the Inside
Others worth considering (although they are often hard to find) that rounded out my library... Chernobyl: Insight from the Inside by VM Chernousenko.
The Legacy of Chernobyl
The Legacy of Chernobyl is also good for an additional perspective from the inside.
The Truth About Chernobyl
The Truth About Chernobyl is essential reading from a Soviet physicist's perspective... and Grigori Medvedev had his boots on the ground. An excellent combination of historic recounting and clear science.
Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster
These are sources I found fascinating and useful. Not ALL of them, but a bunch. First up, obviously... Svetlana Alexievich's Voices From Chernobyl. Absolutely essential, and heartbreaking, reading. There's a reason Ms. Alexievich has a Nobel Prize.