Chernobyl: Aftermath of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster: An Introspective View of the Isolation and Abandonment at Chernoby

Over 400 Exclusive Photos of Chernobyl's Exclusion Zone, the Survivors, the Babas Still Living There, and the Children Still Affected by the Most Devastating Nuclear Disaster in Human History

Let's be clear... this book is not another treatise trying to understand new theories of how, why, and what went wrong at Chernobyl. Plenty of books today have been written about what happened during and after the Chernobyl disaster.

So, what is this book about? This book is part memoir, part documentary photography book, part human-interest story. Inside, you'll discover how a volunteer trip to teach English to middle-school students in western Ukraine turned into a self-initiated 7+ year passion project to bring this book to life for Chernobyl enthusiasts around the world as well as readers who want to know more about the aftermath of this horrific disaster.

Included inside are...

• Over 400 color photos artfully crafted through the eyes of a professional photographer
• Real, untold stories and photos from the people at ground zero of the most destructive man-made catastrophe in human history (including touching yet haunting images of the children who have been placed in a state-run psychiatric institution)
• Exclusive interviews from Chernobyl refugees and the babas still living there
• How the disaster is still affecting the natural habitat in the area 37 years later (and will continue to do so for thousands of years to come)

This book is perfect for...

• Chernobyl enthusiasts seeking to understand the connection between the failures and consequences of Chernobyl and the Soviet system of rule and authority
• Teachers and students studying Physics, World and European History, Nuclear and Chemical Engineering, Biology and Environmental Sciences
• Aficionados who want to get a feel for what the remnants and vestiges of Chernobyl's landscape is like before nature completely overtakes the area
• People of Ukrainian ethnicity seeking a better understanding of their Eastern European heritage

Michael Haritan is a professional commercial photographer with a Certified and Craftsman Rating with the Professional Photographers of America. This Pittsburgh-based, award-winning photographer covers a full spectrum of services - with projects that include advertising, corporate, architecture, construction, real estate, industrial, healthcare, editorial, public relations, education, travel, sports, and entertainment. Michael Haritan is the recipient of numerous local, state, national and international awards for his outstanding photography including the 1987 first place award for his photo of a downtown Pittsburgh construction project, and displayed at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. "Chernobyl - Causes, Cover-Up and Consequences" is Haritan's presentation of the disaster timeline with personal photographs and a video that gives a haunting documentation of the disaster site, a psychiatric institution and orphanage - enlightening audiences with a rare view of not just a disastrous event, but a place and the people who once worked and lived there. His trips to Ukraine in 2016 and 2018 provided research information about the world's worst nuclear accident and has given over forty presentations to audiences across the USA. It also formed the basis for his 2023 book titled: Chernobyl: Aftermath of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster, a photography chronicle and memoir of his two visits including untold stories and interviews from survivors of the Exclusion Zone. Haritan became an Amazon Best Seller Author in just two weeks of the book's release. Earning a Master of Music in Folk Arts degree in 1980, Haritan has produced photo documentaries of folk music and dance cultures, history, architecture and geography of Native Americans, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey and Ukraine. Throughout his forty-year career, he has continuously taught photography to students and enthusiasts alike at the secondary, college, and adult-education levels. Haritan earned an Associate of Science Degree in Homeland Security in 2013 and as a member, provides photography for the Pennsylvania Urban Search & Rescue Strike Team 1 and the Counterterrorism Task Force - Region 13.