What novel inspired Dr. Strangelove?

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American director Stanley Kubrick — Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick during the filming of *Barry Lyndon* (1975).

The 1964 film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb was loosely based on the novel Red Alert by Peter George.12

Although the project was initially envisioned as a serious dramatic look at the Cold War, Stanley Kubrick ultimately decided that the material would be more effective as a satire and a farce. Peter George, the author of the source novel, also served as one of the film's screenwriters alongside Kubrick and Terry Southern.12