Peter George (1) (1924–1966)

Intense story of nuclear bombers headed for the Soviet Union and the mistaken outbreak of World War III. It was the source for Dr. Strangelove, which morphed into a very black comedy. This book plays everything straight, but will still entertain you with its doomsday scenario.

"Nucular combat toe to toe with the Russkies". Red Alert is the book that Dr. Strangelove was based on. The only thing is that the book is not a comedy, not even a black comedy. Red Alert is a book written in the 1950s in the Cold War period about the US/Soviet stand-off. This book is played for real.

It's not a great book, but a good flashback to the mood of the Cold War. It's interesting that Stanley Kubrick took this book as his starting point. He exaggerated the themes of the book to show more construct his black comedy. It didn't take much. The logic of General Quinten (General Ripper in the movie) is something deeply rooted in the Cold War. A first strike made sense, within the logic of a death match between the US and the Soviet Union. And the movie, and the book, follow that logic to its conclusion. Not good.

There's no "Dr. Strangelove" in the book. He is a brilliant invention of Kubrick. The disturbing thing is that, without Strangelove, and without the exaggerations, the logic proceeds to its disastrous conclusion.

"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!" show less

I didn't know this was Peter George's novelization of the witty and satiric screenplay by Terry Southern, et al. Not my typical fare, but this is a fast and fun read closely tracking the famous flick. The switching between bomber Leper Colony, Burpleson AFB and The War Room keep the energy up for quick and funny read. Hold true to the purity and essence of your bodily fluids! :)

The true genius in this book is how Stanley Kubrick came up with Dr. Strangelove out of this story. Red Alert is a serious Cold War Doomsday novel much like Fail-Safe even with a similar ending. Kubrick follows Peter Bryant’s basic plot line but layers it with insane black humor to provide a bizarro-world take on the whole “duck-and-cover” life in the Sixties. Skip the book and go straight to the film.