The Bomb-Makers: Being Some Curious Records Concerning the Craft and Cunning of Theodore Drost, an Enemy Alien in London, Together with Certain Revelations Regarding His Daughter Ella

In Short

This wartime thriller follows the dual life of Ella Drost, a celebrated London revue star who discovers that her father, a supposed Dutch missionary living in Barnes, is actually a Prussian chemist engineering deadly sabotage for the German government. To protect Britain, Ella joins forces with her lover, Lieutenant Seymour Kennedy, to shadow her father’s network of spies. It is a quintessential piece of First World War propaganda fiction, capturing the era’s deep-seated anxieties about "the enemy in our midst" and the fervor of wartime patriotism.

The Story

The story centers on the secret activities of Theodore Drost, a man posing as a pious, grey-haired Dutch pastor. In reality, he is a former professor of chemistry from the Spandau arsenal who has turned his talents toward crafting explosives and, eventually, biological weapons for the German secret service. His daughter, Ella, who performs under the stage name Stella Steele, lives a separate, glamorous life in London, unaware of his true nature until she accidentally overhears a conversation between her father and the sinister Count Ernst von Ortmann.

Realizing her father is a dangerous enemy alien, Ella experiences a crisis of conscience. Despite her German blood, she considers herself entirely British—a sentiment fueled by her love for Seymour Kennedy, a dashing Flight-Commander in the Naval Air Service. She makes a firm compact with Kennedy to thwart her father’s plots without causing a public scandal or triggering her own disgrace. Their mission takes them across London and into the countryside, where they shadow Drost and his co-conspirators.

The narrative moves through a series of escalating threats. In one instance, Drost and his associates plan to destroy a critical munition train by mining a railway tunnel. Kennedy and Ella discover the plot and, through a clever bit of counter-sabotage, turn the conspirators' own trap against them, blowing up the shed where the plotters are hiding while the train passes safely. The stakes later rise to a horrifying level when Drost and his colleagues move beyond mere explosives to prepare a virulent, unnamed biological disease, intending to sow the germs across the country via contaminated everyday objects.

As the war effort intensifies, the conspirators become increasingly desperate. Drost, however, becomes careless with his own lethal inventions. While working in his laboratory, he falls victim to his own deadly germs. Following his sudden, mysterious illness and death, his house is gutted by a suspicious fire, likely an attempt to erase the evidence of his laboratory. While the local authorities remain puzzled by the events surrounding the "poor Dutch pastor," the reader is left with the knowledge that Ella and Kennedy have successfully neutralized a grave threat to the nation. The story closes with the conspirators' ring broken, the "hidden hand" of German influence in Britain momentarily stayed, and the lovers safe in the knowledge that they have performed their duty to the Crown.

How It Unfolds

The discovery of the plot Ella overhears a chilling conversation between her father and a mysterious visitor, revealing his true allegiance to the German Fatherland. She immediately discloses this to her lover, Kennedy, forming a secret alliance to combat the enemy within.

The railway sabotage The pair tracks Drost’s associates to a secluded cow-shed near a vital railway tunnel. By replacing the conspirators' explosives with their own, they ensure the destruction of the saboteurs while protecting the munitions train.

The Hyde Park incident Kennedy and Ella monitor a plot involving a seemingly innocuous ash-stick, which they suspect is a hidden weapon. They watch as the conspirators attempt to strike at a popular Cabinet Minister, only to find the plot thwarted by their own persistent surveillance.

The biological threat Drost and a team of scientists begin culturing a deadly, unknown disease to be spread across England. Ella maintains her cover by visiting her father, while she and Kennedy track the distribution of these germ-laden objects.

The final reckoning Drost accidentally exposes himself to his own lethal biological cultures and dies in his home. The house is destroyed by an incendiary fire, effectively purging the site of the secret laboratory and the evidence of the conspiracy.

The People

Ella Drost is the story’s moral anchor. A popular revue artist, she navigates a painful divide between her heritage and her patriotism. While she initially seeks to protect her father, she eventually prioritizes the safety of Britain, displaying remarkable nerve as she gathers intelligence under his roof.

Seymour Kennedy serves as the active, daring arm of the duo. As a Flight-Commander, he provides the professional expertise and tactical thinking required to outmaneuver the German spies. He is fiercely devoted to Ella, and his primary motivation is to shield her from the fallout of her father’s inevitable exposure.

Theodore Drost is the quintessential antagonist of the period’s literature: the "enemy in our midst." Posing as a humble, pious man, he is cold, calculating, and driven by a fanatical loyalty to the Kaiser. His lack of personal warmth and his reliance on "devilish" science make him a fitting symbol for the fear that neighbors might be hidden agents.

Count Ernst von Ortmann is the puppet master, the "hidden hand" directing the intelligence operations from a luxury home in Park Lane. He is the foil to Drost—sophisticated, well-educated, and elusive. Unlike Drost, who dies by his own hand, Ortmann remains a lingering, shadowy threat throughout the proceedings, representing the broader, systemic danger that Kennedy and Ella must fight.

In Its Own Voice

"A bomb from a Zeppelin could not cause greater injury to life and property than that ingeniously contrived machine, the delicately constructed fuse of which, fashioned on the lathe by her father's own hands, could be arranged to detonate at any given time."

The narrator emphasizes the technological threat posed by the father’s hidden laboratory.

"I have told you all along of my suspicions. To-night they are verified. Father, and that devilish scoundrel, Nystrom, mean mischief--for payment too--one thousand pounds each!"

Ella expresses her shock and indignation after confirming that her father is trading in sabotage for money.

"Gott! gasped Ortmann. You are, indeed, a dealer in bottled death, my dear Theodore."

The Count reveals the truly horrific nature of their final plan to use biological weapons against the British populace.

What It's Really About

The book explores the acute paranoia of the First World War, focusing on the fear that the enemy is not merely on the front lines, but living in the house next door. It argues that patriotism must supersede family loyalty, positioning Ella’s betrayal of her father as a moral duty. The narrative is heavily preoccupied with the "hidden" nature of the threat—the idea that the world is governed by secret conspiracies, disguised foreigners, and subterranean plots. It reflects a society trying to rationalize the horrors of modern, industrial warfare by projecting them onto individual villains who can be identified, outsmarted, and ultimately neutralized.

Why Read It Today

Readers with an interest in the history of popular culture and wartime fiction will find this a fascinating, if sometimes heavy-handed, artifact of its time. It is a brisk, high-stakes thriller that captures the breathless, alarmist tone of 1914–1918 propaganda. Because it was written in the heat of the conflict, the writing is unapologetically sensationalist, relying on tropes of "the enemy in our midst" and the contrast between the "noble" British hero and the "cunning" German spy.

Modern readers may find the dialogue and the characterizations somewhat simplistic, and the period-specific xenophobia—which is central to the plot—is difficult to overlook. The pacing is rapid, designed to keep a wartime audience turning pages, but it lacks the depth of more modern spy fiction. However, it remains a vivid, if flawed, window into the psychological atmosphere of London during the Great War. It is best approached as a historical document—a story that feels less like a realistic investigation and more like a fever dream of the era’s deepest anxieties. You will walk away with a clear understanding of the cultural narrative that dominated the minds of civilians while the world was at war.