were actually handled at the time ("not an electronic go signal that could be sent out accidentally"), implying that the authors were not sufficiently aware of these. Lawsuit The book purportedly resembled the 1958 novel Red Alert by Peter George (which was adapted by George and Stanley Kubrick into the mutually assured destruction satire Dr. Strangelove in 1964, as well) so closely that George filed a lawsuit for copyright infringement, intending to be allowed to release their Dr. Strangelove before Fail-Safe. The suit was settled out of court, with the agreement for Fail-Safe to wait until well after Dr. Strangelove had been released, greatly reducing its popularity at the box office, given their perceived commonality. See also Red Alert Trinity's Child, later book and film with a similar theme References Footnotes Other sources 1962 American novels American thriller novels American political novels Novels set during World War III Novels set during the Cold War American novels adapted into films Aviation novels Novels first published in serial form Novels involved in plagiarism controversies McGraw-Hill books Political thriller novels Novels set in Washington, D.C. Novels about nuclear war and weapons