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 However, although broadly accurate, the historiographic aspect of the books is very outdated to a modern reader.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.[1]
