Gunpowder and Glory: From Fireworks to Zeebrugge: the Short, Explosive Life of Frank Brock OBE

The previously untold story of Frank Brock – a remarkable forerunner of James Bond and ‘Q’ combined – and his extraordinary contribution to the British war effort between 1914 and 1918 as an inventor, secret agent and combatant.

Frank Brock only lived to be 33. Nonetheless, he did more in that short life than most men could accomplish in several. The hottest fires burn most quickly and here was a man who burned brightly, extinguished in a blaze of glory.

The scion of the world-famous Brock Fireworks was killed in action in Belgium during the most daring British raid of WWI, with a cutlass in one hand and a revolver in the other.

Picture a daredevil combatant, elite athlete, secret agent and brilliant inventor all rolled into a precocious boy raised in a fireworks family that allowed him to become a pyrotechnical genius. There you have Frank Brock - remarkable combination of James Bond, Thomas Edison, Indiana Jones, and MacGyver. Gunpowder and Glory is the first-ever biography of Brock, an unheralded hero of WWI whose contribution to the war effort saved tens of thousands of lives and helped to end The Great War.

Frank could easily have been the template for 007. He was:
· A heavyweight boxer and powerhouse rugby player
· An expert marksman and oarsman
· A first-rate pilot
· Commissioned in all three branches of the armed services – army, navy, and air force – in WWI
· An inventor who ended Germany’s dream of air supremacy with his pioneering Brock Bullet.
· Ingenious and he helped prevent German domination of the English Channel by inventing Dover Flares which lit up the sea at night and forced U-boats into deep mine fields.

Still, his exploits did not end there. As a secret agent Brock dashed to France on his wedding day, snuck into Switzerland, rowed across Lake Constance into enemy territory, and orchestrated the world’s first strategic bombing raid – ordered by Winston Churchill himself – at the zeppelin factory in Friedrichshafen, Germany. Lastly, on the day of his untimely death, he led the charge in a surprise naval attack only made possible by the artificial fog he invented to mask their daring approach.

Co-authored by his grandson, Gunpowder and Glory tells more than Brock’s amazing life of invention and heroism. Woven into the narrative is the dazzling history of C.T. Brock & Company Fireworks, the world-famous firm started by Frank’s five-times great-grandfather.
See: https://www.casematepublishers.com/media/video/GandG_final.mp4

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Come on, you Boys
Chapter 2: A Whiff of Black Powder
Chapter 3: Fireworks in their Blood
Chapter 4: Taking the Palace by Storm
Chapter 5: The Shakespeare of Pyrotechnics
Chapter 6: Whatever you are, be Brave Boys!
Chapter 7: Pomp and Circumstance
Chapter 8: A Carpet of Violets
Chapter 9: Monsters of the Sky
Chapter 10: Seeking the Holy Grail
Chapter 11: The Magic Bullet
Chapter 12: Father of Invention
Chapter 13: Striking the Viper’s Nest
Chapter 14: Brock of the Mole
Chapter 15: The Finest Feat
Chapter 16: Brock’s Benefit