In the early hours of the morning of 26 April 1986, the nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl power plant in Ukraine exploded, unleashing a storm of radioactive material into the atmosphere and contaminating most of Europe with its fallout. It was a disaster on an unprecedented scale.

In this comprehensive guide, Ian Fitzgerald explores the events as they unfolded: the science behind the explosion and what went wrong; the hubris and heroism shown on the ground as engineers, firefighters, doctors and government officials all worked to contain the fiasco; as well as the cover-ups and recriminations that followed. Photographs reveal the human side to the story and the ordinary men and woman who put their lives on the line to escape total catastrophe.

Fitzgerald asks what lessons can be learned - and what, if anything, we are doing to make sure they can never happen again.