The Chernobyl nuclear disaster dominated headlines after the Soviet reactor exploded on April 25, 1986. But there’s more to the story. Author Adam Higginbotham goes beyond the oft-told narrative in his latest book, “Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster.”

In a Times video interview from the Festival of Books, Higginbotham explained how the book helps draw parallels to another historic man-made tragedy.

“I think it’s an eternal story,” he shared. “It’s like the Titanic disaster. It represents a cross-section of, in this, case Soviet society, and exposes the kind of cowardice and bravery of individual human beings.”