Peter George
Red Alert (1958)
Author: Peter George (aka Peter Bryant)
Genre: Literary (Cold War/Book to Film)
Plot Summary:
Famously adapted for the screen by Stanley Kubrick, the book on which the film Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb does not feature a character named Dr. Strangelove. Nor does it feature a character even remotely similar to Dr. Strangelove. There is also no mention of fluoridation. However, all of the other elements are there. The story, like the film, shifts from three different settings: aboard a B-52 named Alabama Angel captained by 26-year Clint Brown, in the office of Brigadier General Quinten at the Sonora Air Force Base in Texas, and the War Room in the Pentagon with the Joint Chiefs and the President. As in the film, Quinten (who in the film is named Gen. Jack D. Ripper) has ordered the 843rd bomber wing to attack the Soviets under the auspices of Plan R, which provides the general with a loophole for authorizing an attack without the authorization of the President or Congress. Capt. Brown and his crew, having received the message, are bound and determined to make it to their target. Meanwhile, the President and the Joint Chiefs are doing everything in their power to avert global catastrophe by attempting to determine the recall code while simultaneously using diplomacy to keep the Soviets from launching a full-scale retaliatory strike. Absent from the book, is the black humor that makes Kubrick’s film so much fun. Also absent is the character Buck Turgidson, the War Room general portrayed to perfection in the film by George C. Scott. What the book does offer that the film does not, however, is a thoughtful meditation on the futility of the arms race and the harrowing precipice on which history rested during the Cold War. George’s point is that, given the awesome power of nuclear weapons, even one mistake could spell disaster for the entire planet. SPOILER: Unlike the film, Capt. Brown does not ride the bomb down to its target. Rather, the bomb misses its target, and the “doomsday device” of the Soviets is not used. Regardless, the message is a strong and powerful one, and one can see why this story resonated with readers and filmgoers in the late 50s and early 60s.
Geographical Setting: Texas, Washington D.C., over Soviet airspace in a B-52
Time Period: 1958
Appeal Characteristics:
The primary appeal at this point in time is most likely for those looking to see what the source material for Kubrick’s film was. The story itself is fast-paced with short chapters the nearly all end in cliff hangers that keep the reader turning the page (even a reader like me who thought he knew how the story ended). There is some technical jargon and a tertiary knowledge of Cold War politics would probably boost the reader’s enjoyment of the book. The characters, especially that of Capt. Clint Brown, are well-developed, and you get a real feel for the confusion and determination that would infuse a situation like this.
Red Flags: no foul language, no sex, but some angry rhetoric aimed at the Soviets inspired by their quashing of anti-Communists in Hungary.
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