Belarus: From Soviet Rule to Nuclear Catastrophe examines the principal effects of Soviet rule on Belarus as the prelude to a detailed analysis of the medical and social consequences of the nuclear accident at Chernobyl. It places these problems into the contemporary political context and assesses the ability of the newly-independent state to deal with a disaster of such dimensions.Acknowledgements - Note on Transliteration - Introduction - Soviet Rule: Repression and Urbanization - Language and Culture: National Nihilism? - The Contaminated Zone - Medical Consequences of a Nuclear Disaster - Perestroika and Independence - References - IndexDAVID R. MARPLES