March 11, 2011. A magnitude 9 earthquake rocks Japan and triggers a mega-tsunami that kills thousands of people. It also knocks out the power at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and triggers one of the worst nuclear accidents in history.
If it wasn't for one man, it could have been much worse.
If it wasn't for one man, it could have been much worse.
"Rob Gilhooly has written what is probably the most comprehensive English-language account yet of the Fukushima nuclear meltdown. Gilhooly is among the best-informed foreign reporters on this issue in Japan, having travelled to Fukushima several dozen times since being one of the first journalists to arrive in the prefecture on a freezing night in March 2011. He gives the story of Masao Yoshida, perhaps the key figure in the disaster, all the detail, sympathy and pathos it demands. His remarkable pictures throughout the book are a bonus. Highly recommended. "
— David McNeil, The Economist.
“A powerful synthesis of the technical and the personal, Gilhooly succeeds in conveying the events of March 2011, its aftermath and the dramatic impact on the people of Fukushima and wider Japan. Six years after the start of the accident, Yoshida’s Dilemma is a necessary reminder of how through the actions of heroic individuals and luck Japan avoided an even greater catastrophe.”
— S. David Freeman, former Tennessee Valley Authority chairman, engineer, energy expert and author of Energy: The New Era and Winning Our Energy Independence
"As one of the few journalists to have covered the Fukushima story from the very start, Rob Gilhooly is perfectly placed to discuss the disaster's causes and aftermath, and its wider ramifications for the future of nuclear power. From the chaotic scenes as the plant went into triple meltdown, to the plight of evacuated residents and Japan's long and troubled relationship with atomic energy, Gilhooly combines fine story-telling with journalistic integrity to produce a book that is admirably free of hyperbole.”
— Justin McCurry, The Guardian.
"Gilhooly writes from the eye of the storm, putting the reader in the plant’s control room with almost claustrophobic immediacy."
— Nicolas Gattig, The Japan Times. (Full review here)
"Gilhooly’s book is the best and most comprehensive account of the nuclear disaster in English so far. Much of the subject matter is technical, but the author is skillful enough to make it readable and accessible to the general reader."
— Todd Crowell, Asia Times.
— David McNeil, The Economist.
“A powerful synthesis of the technical and the personal, Gilhooly succeeds in conveying the events of March 2011, its aftermath and the dramatic impact on the people of Fukushima and wider Japan. Six years after the start of the accident, Yoshida’s Dilemma is a necessary reminder of how through the actions of heroic individuals and luck Japan avoided an even greater catastrophe.”
— S. David Freeman, former Tennessee Valley Authority chairman, engineer, energy expert and author of Energy: The New Era and Winning Our Energy Independence
"As one of the few journalists to have covered the Fukushima story from the very start, Rob Gilhooly is perfectly placed to discuss the disaster's causes and aftermath, and its wider ramifications for the future of nuclear power. From the chaotic scenes as the plant went into triple meltdown, to the plight of evacuated residents and Japan's long and troubled relationship with atomic energy, Gilhooly combines fine story-telling with journalistic integrity to produce a book that is admirably free of hyperbole.”
— Justin McCurry, The Guardian.
"Gilhooly writes from the eye of the storm, putting the reader in the plant’s control room with almost claustrophobic immediacy."
— Nicolas Gattig, The Japan Times. (Full review here)
"Gilhooly’s book is the best and most comprehensive account of the nuclear disaster in English so far. Much of the subject matter is technical, but the author is skillful enough to make it readable and accessible to the general reader."
— Todd Crowell, Asia Times.
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