Fallout: Epilogue

by Steve Sheinkin
In this follow-up to Bomb, the award-winning author shows how the development of the atomic bomb led to tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union that threatened massive destruction for nearly fifty years after World War II.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Prologue–Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Epilogue
30 words 8 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. vanity
    feelings of excessive pride
    “Vanity, vainglory, dissatisfaction with my work,” he told the court, “and love of an easy life led me to the criminal path.”
  2. vainglory
    outspoken conceit
    “Vanity, vainglory, dissatisfaction with my work,” he told the court, “and love of an easy life led me to the criminal path.”
  3. treason
    a crime that undermines the offender's government
    The judge found Penkovsky guilty of treason and sentenced him to be shot.
  4. execute
    carry out or perform an action
    On May 16, 1963, the Soviet newspaper Pravda noted: “The sentence has been executed.”
  5. clandestine
    conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods
    In total, Penkovsky had passed nearly ten thousand pages of secrets on Soviet strengths and weaknesses to his American and British contacts. A CIA summary would call this “the most productive classic clandestine operation ever conducted by CIA and MI6 against the Soviet target.”
  6. dub
    give a nickname to
    As part of what the press dubbed the “Bodies for Butter” program, East German dictator Walter Ulbricht accepted bribes of food from Western governments in exchange for the release of political prisoners.
  7. rural
    of or relating to the countryside as opposed to the city
    After his exchange for Rudolf Abel—dramatized in Steven Spielberg’s 2015 film Bridge of Spies—Francis Gary Powers was taken directly to a CIA safe house in rural Maryland and grilled for days on end.
  8. ignorant
    unaware because of a lack of relevant information
    Ignorant of the facts, articles blamed him for being shot down, for “allowing” himself to be captured by not using his poison pin. The CIA eventually cleared Powers of any suspicion of disloyalty—but did not explain to the public that pilots were never ordered to kill themselves, or even to carry the hollow coin with the poison needle.
  9. arduous
    difficult to accomplish
    “Intelligence work is not a series of rip-roaring adventures, a string of tricks or an entertaining trip abroad,” Abel cautioned. “It is, above all, arduous, painstaking work that calls for an intense effort, perseverance, stamina, fortitude, will power, serious knowledge and great mastery.”
  10. painstaking
    characterized by extreme care and great effort
    “Intelligence work is not a series of rip-roaring adventures, a string of tricks or an entertaining trip abroad,” Abel cautioned. “It is, above all, arduous, painstaking work that calls for an intense effort, perseverance, stamina, fortitude, will power, serious knowledge and great mastery.”
  11. fortitude
    strength of mind that enables one to endure adversity
    “Intelligence work is not a series of rip-roaring adventures, a string of tricks or an entertaining trip abroad,” Abel cautioned. “It is, above all, arduous, painstaking work that calls for an intense effort, perseverance, stamina, fortitude, will power, serious knowledge and great mastery.”
  12. quirky
    strikingly unconventional
    Lona Cohen, who’d helped the Soviets steal atomic secrets during World War II and was Rudolf Abel’s first contact in New York, disappeared behind the iron curtain for several years before reinventing herself as a quirky Canadian named Helen Kroger.
  13. defiant
    boldly resisting authority or an opposing force
    Castro remained controversial and defiant to the very end, dying in Havana in 2016, at the age of ninety.
  14. subsequent
    following in time or order
    Angry about the unfair treatment he and his fellow submariners faced upon their return to port, Vasili Arkhipov spoke little of his mission to Cuba in subsequent years.
  15. afflict
    cause physical pain or suffering in
    He died at age seventy-two of kidney cancer, a disease that afflicted many of the sailors who survived the K-19 disaster.
  16. dignitary