National Geographic photographer Gerd Ludwig has visited Chernobyl nine times over the past 20 years. He has ventured further than any other photographer into the core of Reactor No. 4 to document the greatest nuclear disaster in history. With gripping and poignant photographs, this book serves as a memorial, as Chernobyl is disappearing. Literally. A second sarcophagus, the $2.2 billion New Safe Confinement, will soon permanently obscure the familiar image of the reactor destroyed by the explosion on April 26, 1986, behind a high-tech structure. However, it is primarily a book of remembrance for those people who have to endure this tragedy. I am driven by the obligation to act on behalf of silent victims, to give them a voice through my images. During my stay in Chernobyl, I encountered many ve.