Roger Brook is a fictional secret agent and gallant of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

era who is later identified as the Chevalier de Breuc. The series of twelve novels by

Dennis Wheatley Dennis Yeats Wheatley (8 January 1897 – 10 November 1977) was a British writer whose prolific output of thrillers and occult novels made him one of the world's best-selling authors from the 1930s through the 1960s. His Gregory Sallust series ...

covers events from a dozen years before the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are consider ...

to the fall of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

. Historically accurate, the series is written from the perspective of an aide-de-camp to Napoleon himself. The Roger Brook books were written after Wheatley had been a member of

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...

's Joint Planning Staff during World War II. During that period, Wheatley had accumulated much distinctive knowledge on matters relevant to the war and politics, but he was not allowed to use this knowledge in his novels because of the Official Secrets Act. He discussed the subject with Air Commodore Kenneth Collier, who came up with a suggestion about placing Wheatley's stories in the Napoleonic times instead. Wheatley combined his habit of doing extensive research, in this case to gather accurate historical details about the Napoleonic era, with his wartime knowledge and experience. After completing the final book in the series, ''Desperate Measures'' (1974), Wheatley decided to retire from writing fiction.Dennis Yates Wheatley - Gale
/ref> The twelve books, with the dates when first published, and the period covered by the plot of each book, are as follows: * ''The Launching of Roger Brook'' (3 July 1947) covers 28 July 1783 - November 1787 * ''The Shadow of Tyburn Tree'' (6 May 1948) March 1788 - April 1789 * ''The Rising Storm'' (13 October 1949) April 1789 - July 1790 * ''The Man Who Killed the King'' (8 November 1951) June 1792 - August 1794 * ''The Dark Secret of Josephine'' (16 March 1955) August 1794 - April 1796 * ''The Rape of Venice'' (19 October 1959) June 1796 - December 1797 * ''The Sultan's Daughter'' (19 August 1963) February 1798 - 31 December 1799 * ''The Wanton Princess'' (22 August 1966) 1 January 1800 - 30 November 1805 * ''Evil in a Mask'' (18 August 1969) February 1807 - September 1809 * ''The Ravishing of Lady Mary Ware'' (16 August 1971) September 1809 - 1 January 1813 * ''The Irish Witch'' (20 August 1973) 1812 - 1814 * ''Desperate Measures'' (2 September 1974) 1814 - 1815

References

Book series introduced in 1947 Fictional secret agents and spies Literary characters introduced in 1947 Male characters in literature Novels set during the French Revolutionary War Novels set during the Napoleonic Wars {{war-novel-stub