Peter Bryan George (26 March 1924 – 1 June 1966) was a Welsh author, most famous for the 1958

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

thriller novel ''

Red Alert Red Alert or red alert may refer to: Alert states * Red alert, a high alert state * Red Alert, the "attack imminent" alert signal for the US civil defense siren * Red alert state, the most serious alert state in the UK BIKINI state system * Red ...

'', published initially with the title ''Two Hours to Doom'' and written using the pseudonym Peter Bryant. The book was the inspiration for

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...

's film '' Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb''.

Life

George was born in 1924 in

Treorchy Treorchy (; ) is a town and Community (Wales), community (and electoral ward) in Wales. Once a mining town, it retains such characteristics. Situated in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf in the Rhondda Fawr valley. Treorchy is also one of t ...

Rhondda Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( ), is a former coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley (, 'large') and t ...

, Wales, and died aged 42 in

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

, England. He was a flight lieutenant and navigator for the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

serving with No. 255 Squadron RAF, flying

night fighter A night fighter (later known as all-weather fighter or all-weather interceptor post-Second World War) is a largely historical term for a fighter aircraft, fighter or interceptor aircraft adapted or designed for effective use at night, during pe ...

missions over Malta and Italy. He rejoined the RAF serving at

RAF Neatishead Remote Radar Head Neatishead ( ), and commonly abbreviated RRH Neatishead, is an air defence radar site operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF). It is located approximately north-east of Norwich in the county of Norfolk, England. Originally kno ...

and as a fighter controller where he often wrote while on duty and used a

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

. He retired from the service in 1961. On 1 June 1966, Peter George was found dead with a discharged double-barreled shotgun between his knees; his death was ruled a

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

Works

His best-known novel, ''

'' was written while he was a serving RAF officer (hence the original use of a pseudonym: ''Peter Bryant'' – the ''Bryan'' being from his middle name). Drawn from personal experience, ''Red Alert'' was the inspiration for

's classic film '' Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb''. Interest in nuclear weapon themes, sparked by

Stanley Kramer Stanley Earl Kramer (September 29, 1913February 19, 2001) was an American film director and producer, responsible for making many of Hollywood's most famous " message films" (he called his movies ''heavy dramas'') and a liberal movie icon.

's film version of the novel '' On the Beach'' in 1959, caused the movie rights to ''Red Alert'' to be sold that year, only to be transferred until Stanley Kubrick bought them in 1962, reportedly for as little as $3,500. Another bestselling novel published in 1962, ''

Fail Safe In engineering, a fail-safe is a design feature or practice that, in the event of a failure of the design feature, inherently responds in a way that will cause minimal or no harm to other equipment, to the environment or to people. Unlike inheren ...

'', was so similar to George's nuclear war theme that both he and Kubrick sued on a charge of

copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of Copyright#Scope, works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the c ...

, settling out of court. Ironically the same movie studio,

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

, which had financed and was distributing ''Strangelove'', also bought ''Fail Safe'', which had been an independently financed production. Since Kubrick insisted that the studio release his movie first in January 1964,Jacobson, Colin
"Review:Fail-Safe: Special Edition (1964)."
''dvdmg.com,'' 2000. Retrieved: November 21, 2010. the perceived commonality led to ''

'' opening in October later that year to poor box office performance, despite excellent reviews for its more serious depiction of a nuclear crisis than Kubrick's overtly satirical approach. While Peter George received a co-writing credit for ''Strangeloves screenplay with Kubrick and

Terry Southern Terry Southern (May 1, 1924 – October 29, 1995) was an American novelist, essayist, screenwriter, and university lecturer, noted for his distinctive satirical style. Part of the Paris postwar literary movement in the 1950s and a companion to ...

, it is unclear how much involvement he actually had, and he was reportedly dissatisfied with the comedic element Kubrick applied to the material. As a co-writer, he shared a " Best Adapted Screenplay"

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

nomination. After the movie was released, he wrote a

novelisation A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book, or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...

of ''Dr. Strangelove'' and dedicated it to Kubrick. It was out of print for many years but was to be re-issued in 2015 by Candy Jar Ltd and features previously unpublished material concerning Strangelove's early career, with a foreword by George's son, David. George's final completed novel before his suicide, '' Commander-1'', envisaged a post-apocalyptic world in which a group of survivors is tyrannized by a dictator.

Novels

* ''Come Blonde, Came Murder'' (T. V. Boardman, 1952) as "Peter George". * ''Pattern of Death'' (T. V. Boardman, 1954) as "Peter George". * ''Cool Murder'' (T. V. Boardman, 1958) as "Peter George"; later reissued in paperback (Mayflower, 1965) as "Bryan Peters". * ''Two Hours To Doom'' (T. V. Boardman, 1958) as "Peter Bryant" - later published as

(Ace, 1958) * ''Hong Kong Kill'' (T. V. Boardman, 1958) as "Bryan Peters". * ''The Big H'' (T. V. Boardman, 1961) as "Bryan Peters". * ''The Final Steal'' (T. V. Boardman, 1962) as "Peter George". * '' Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb'' (Corgi, 1963) as "Peter George"; novelisation of the screenplay; dedicated to Stanley Kubrick. * '' Commander-1'' (Heinemann, 1965) as "Peter George".

References

External links

*
Web site of George's son with some memorabilia of George's ''Two Hours to Doom'' (''Red Alert'') including the letter
from

* https://web.archive.org/web/20081011083635/http://homepage.ntlworld.com/elizabeth.ercocklly/peter.htm Website detailing his life, works and suicide.
Commander-1: The Life and Death of Author Peter George
{{DEFAULTSORT:George, Peter 1924 births 1966 suicides Royal Air Force officers Welsh novelists Suicides in England People from Treorchy 20th-century Welsh novelists Anglo-Welsh novelists Welsh science fiction writers Suicides by firearm in England 1966 deaths Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Hugo Award–winning writers