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Peter George
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Red Alert: The Novel that Inspired Dr. Strangelove, or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb Kindle Edition

by Peter Bryant (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 643 ratings
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The basis for Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece, Dr. Strangelove: A chilling Cold War thriller in which unchecked power unleashes total nuclear disaster.
 
Air Force Brigadier General Quinten is a dying man suffering from the paranoid delusion that he can make the world a better place by ordering a full-scale nuclear attack on the Soviet Union. Receiving word of the attack already underway, the president of the United States and his advisors now must work frantically to stop it. The US bombers are to be shot down—but a lone bomber called the “Alabama Angel” escapes and flies on to complete its lunatic mission, ignoring the president’s orders.
 
A ghastly and chilling vision of what might happen when profound and deadly power is put into the wrong hands, this classic thriller continues to serve as a warning in today’s tumultuous political climate.
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  1. Print length
    190 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    RosettaBooks
  5. Publication date
    March 1, 2011
  6. File size
    3605 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07H16531H
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ RosettaBooks (March 1, 2011)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 1, 2011
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3605 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 190 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 643 ratings

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Peter George

Peter George

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
643 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Cary C. Dunlap
5.0 out of 5 stars Intelligent, Captivating Thriller
Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2012
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There's little I can add about the quality of this book that hasn't already been written here in Amazon reviews. Still, I'd like to share my thoughts, however redundant they are.

Despite the long-ago culmination of the Cold War, this novel is an engrossing read. The geographic locations of America's enemies may have changed since publication (then again, maybe they haven't), but the story is still pertinent. In other words, the novel and its lessons aren't dated. On a personal note, I'm fascinated by the idea of living with the threat of nuclear war, as my parents did. Stories like Red Alert provide a window into that era and this one does so with an even hand, without political bias or heavy-handed messages. It lets you understand for yourself that the prevailing government mentalities of the Cold War and the escalation toward mutually assured destruction were insane.

The story is fast-paced, well-researched, and splendidly reported. I was particularly moved by the sacrifice of the crew of the Alabama Angel. There's a good blend of tense dialog and action, making it a terrific example in the military/political thriller genre.

Like others have said, it's hard to believe Dr. Strangelove was born out this novel. I love the movie (and now the book), and while there's a common thread that connects the two, the tone of each seems to me to be severely disconnected. Still, whether it's through the use of black humor or thrilling tension, this story is chilling and sobering.
16 people found this helpful
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Troy Blake
4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, even without the movie
Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2011
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This book is now somewhat dated because it was originally published during the old "Cold War" days of the late 1950's, but the characters stand up to the passing of time even if the technology and politics have changed.

My Overall Rating: 4 stars

The Storyline: 4 stars

The story is about how, during the height of the cold war between the Soviet Union (today it is called Russia) and the United States, a rogue U.S. Air Force general launches an attach deep into the Soviet Union. The American military and the President is then left to figure out what to do about the rogue attack. Some want to press the attack and wipe out the Soviet forces while they have the chance while most others see this as a disaster that must be avoided before millions of people lose their lives.

The book is very different from the movie, both technically and dramatically.

In the movie there is a kind of over-the-top comedy aspect to the story to drive home the craziness of launching an attack to kill millions of people to save millions of people. In the book their is a very serious nature to the story that will be loss to many people today as they can't understand we really used to live in a day-by-day edge of your seat cold war battle with the Soviet Union during this time that would have made this story much more believable in the 1950's.

Technology: 4 stars

The story is somewhat misleading as to the technology of the day, with a few technical errors in the aircraft design, failsafe mechanisms available and in use at the time, etc. Some of this information might not have been declassified in 1958, so I give him a pass some the details.

Characters: 4 stars

Overall there are some good characters in this story. The words and actions are realistic and many Americans really feared the spread of Communism and were willing to kill to prevent the spread "save American lives". Today we accept communism as just another political movement and accept them into our normal American political system.

Writing: 4 stars

You can tell that the writer, Peter Bryant, was worried about the impact of long-term stressful management of a huge nuclear stockpile would impact the typical person having to bear the weight of saving or killing millions of human souls during the time of combat. His feeling that humanity was doomed to fail in the responsibility of having a loaded gun pointed at the head of all mankind for any length of time comes through in his story and his characters.

I recommend this story about the thinking and feeling of the time on the subject of atomic weapons, and hope everyone gets a chance to read what is a truly remarkable story about an important time in our history. While the story is fiction, many people used this story (and the movie) to color their feelings about how to deal with the issue of mutual assured destruction.
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Geoffrey A. Snyder
5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic
Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2011
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I don't know how it is I never got around to reading this before. It's a classic novel and part of the foundation for the entire genre of Apocalyptic novels. This a cautionary tale of how failsafes can be breached and the system itself can be used against itself to spiral out of control.

It reads like any novel written in the 50's complete with main characters who are all white men and fine upstanding examples of duty and valor. But, that doesn't detract from the overall story, it actually makes the story more believable since the everyone is doing their duty to the best of their abilities. Its fast paced and relatively short - only 2600+ locations - and makes for a pleasant read. Unlike most modern novels in the genre, there is no gore, no panic in the general population and a comparably small body count.

If you're a fan of Apocalyptic fiction, this is a must read.
16 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Pierre Legault
3.0 out of 5 stars Poor quality reprint
Reviewed in Canada on August 17, 2020
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A great storyline in a very poor quality reprint, definitely not worth the $18 list price.
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Alan Parish
5.0 out of 5 stars A thoroughly engrossing read!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 17, 2021
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I bought this book after watching the film ‘Dr. Strangelove’ which, as you will be aware, is a black comedy about the lead up to Armageddon. The film was based on ‘Red Alert’ so I thought I’d get the book just to see whether the film was true to the book and if not how it differed. The story line is pretty much as it is portrayed in the film, but it is not a comedy!! It is an extremely well written, well researched and thoroughly gripping story and I could not put it down. You really do feel that you are with the crew on board a B52 bomber, and the attention to detail is fantastic but at the same time very readable. All I can say is buy this book; you’ll enjoy it immensely!!
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book
Reviewed in Australia on December 13, 2016
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This is a really good book and makes you wonder how close it was to reality. It's full of suspense and builds very well. This is worth a read.
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Vincent Becker
5.0 out of 5 stars Un techno thriller avec 30 ans d'avance
Reviewed in France on May 2, 2016
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Si vous recherchez l'humour noir de la version Kubrick, passez votre chemin: ce livre n'est pas drôle, pas du tout. Il se rapproche énormément, dans le fond comme dans la forme, des "techno-thrillers" qui feront la gloire de Tom Clancy 30 à 40 ans plus tard. L'auteur se livre à une vision angoissante, et techniquement très bien documentée, de la folie du nucléaire "stratégique" à une époque très particulière de l'histoire: la bombe à hydrogène existe mais l'équilibre de la terreur n'est pas encore acté. Ca se lit d'une traite ou presque tant on accroche à ce récit sans pitié. Le plus surprenant est qu'il n'a pas pris une ride : la menace est toujours là, et n'a pas tant changé.
2 people found this helpful
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Technophobic
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 9, 2016
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I liked this story, there was one plot point that stretched my credulity to breaking point but apart from that I enjoyed it. Its tone is serious, unlike the film version (which I love!). If you like Cold War era history etc you will like this I think. At 163 pages it's quite short too.
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