View source for Peter George (author)

{{Short description|Welsh author and former air officer}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{more citations needed|date=June 2009}}
[[File:Peter Bryan George.jpg|thumb|right|Peter George]]
'''Peter Bryan George''' (26 March 1924 – 1 June 1966) was a Welsh author, most famous for the 1958 [[Cold War]] thriller novel ''[[Red Alert (novel)|Red Alert]]'', published initially with the title ''Two Hours to Doom'' and written using the pseudonym '''Peter Bryant'''. The book was the inspiration for [[Stanley Kubrick]]'s film ''[[Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb]]''.

==Life==
George was born in 1924 in [[Treorchy]], [[Rhondda]], Wales, and died aged 42 in [[Hastings]], [[East Sussex]], England. He was a [[flight lieutenant]] and navigator for the [[Royal Air Force]] during [[World War II]] serving with [[No. 255 Squadron RAF]], flying [[night fighter]] missions over Malta and Italy.  He rejoined the RAF serving at [[RAF Neatishead]] and as a fighter controller<ref>p. 10 Case, George ''Calling Dr. Strangelove: The Anatomy and Influence of the Kubrick Masterpiece'' McFarland, 7 August 2014</ref> where he often wrote while on duty and used a [[pen name|pseudonym]].  He retired from the service in 1961.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sikov|first=Ed|title=Mr. Strangelove: A Biography of Peter Sellers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uUJ6XVBxTYAC&pg=PA190|year=2003|publisher=Hyperion|isbn=978-0-7868-8581-7|page=190}}</ref>

On 1 June 1966, Peter George was found dead with a discharged double-barreled shotgun between his knees; his death was ruled a [[suicide]]. [[Brian Aldiss]] reported that George suffered from depression and was an alcoholic.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Aldiss |first=Brian |date=March 14, 1999 |title=Kubrick – the Writer |url=http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/sk/memories/page5.htm |access-date=2025-11-01 |website=www.visual-memory.co.uk |publisher=[[The Observer]]}}</ref> He left behind a wife and three children.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Jones|first1=Nick|title=Commander-1: The Life and Death of Author Peter George, alias Peter Bryant / Bryan Peters, co-writer of Dr. Strangelove; inc. Bibliography|url=http://www.existentialennui.com/2012/10/commander-1-life-and-death-of-author.html|website=Existential Ennui|publisher=unk|accessdate=29 December 2015}}</ref>

==Works==
His best-known novel, ''[[Red Alert (novel)|Red Alert]]'' 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 [[Stanley Kubrick]]'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]]'s film version of the novel ''[[On the Beach (1959 film)|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 (novel)|Fail Safe]]'', was so similar to George's nuclear war theme that both he and Kubrick sued on a charge of [[copyright infringement]],<ref name=Life>{{cite news |last1=Scherman |first1=David E. |title=in Two Big Book-alikes a Mad General and a Bad Black Box Blow Up Two Cities, and then— Everybody Blows Up! |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oU8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA49 |accessdate=August 18, 2017|work=Life Magazine |date=March 8, 1963 |page=49}}</ref> settling out of court.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schlosser |first1=Eric |title=Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety |year=2014 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=9780143125785 |page=297 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lJ6JDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA297 |language=en}}</ref> Ironically the same movie studio, [[Columbia Pictures]], which had financed and was distributing ''Strangelove'', also bought ''Fail Safe'', which had been an independently financed production.<ref name=Slate>{{cite news |last1=Schulman |first1=Ari N. |title=Doomsday Machines|url=https://slate.com/technology/2014/10/fail-safe-50th-anniversary-sidney-lumets-nuclear-war-movie-is-better-than-dr-strangelove.html |access-date=July 21, 2020|work=Slate |date=October 7, 2014 }}</ref> Since Kubrick insisted that the studio release his movie first in January 1964,<ref name="Jacobson">Jacobson, Colin. [http://www.dvdmg.com/failsafe.shtml "Review:Fail-Safe: Special Edition (1964)."] ''dvdmg.com,'' 2000. Retrieved: November 21, 2010.</ref> the perceived commonality led to ''[[Fail Safe (1964 film)|Fail Safe]]'' 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 ''Strangelove'''s screenplay with Kubrick and [[Terry Southern]], 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 "[[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Best Adapted Screenplay]]" [[Academy Award|Oscar]] nomination.  After the movie was released, he wrote a [[novelisation]] 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://candyjarlimited.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/v-behaviorurldefaultvmlo.html |title=Candy Jar Publishes Classic |accessdate=14 October 2014}}</ref>

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 [[Red Alert (novel)|Red Alert]] (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==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|id=0313570}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20091114081832/http://digitaldavid.net/DrStrangelove/DrStrangelove_PeterGeorge.html Web site of George's son with some memorabilia of George's ''Two Hours to Doom'' (''Red Alert'') including the letter] from [[Stanley Kubrick]]
* https://web.archive.org/web/20081011083635/http://homepage.ntlworld.com/elizabeth.ercocklly/peter.htm Website detailing his life, works and suicide. 
* [http://www.existentialennui.com/2012/10/commander-1-life-and-death-of-author.html Commander-1: The Life and Death of Author Peter George]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:George, Peter}}
[[Category:1924 births]]
[[Category:1966 suicides]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force officers]]
[[Category:Welsh novelists]]
[[Category:Suicides in England]]
[[Category:People from Treorchy]]
[[Category:20th-century Welsh novelists]]
[[Category:Anglo-Welsh novelists]]
[[Category:Welsh science fiction writers]]
[[Category:Suicides by firearm in England]]
[[Category:1966 deaths]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Hugo Award–winning writers]]