Roger Brook
Roger Brook is a fictional secret agent and gallant of the Napoleonic Wars who is later identified as the Chevalier de Breuc, created by Dennis Wheatley in 1947. His series covers events from a dozen years before the French Revolution to the fall of Napoleon. The series is written from Brook's perspective, who is an aide-de-camp to Napoleon himself.
Creation and conception
Roger Brook was created after Wheatley had been a member of Winston Churchill'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. However, although broadly accurate, the historiographic aspect of the books is very outdated to a modern reader. After completing the final book in the series, Desperate Measures in 1974, Wheatley decided to retire from writing fiction.