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how fireworks work

“When most of us think "fireworks," we think of brilliant bursts of light and color we've seen paint a night sky. But such bursts are merely the spectacular end of fireworks that likely took centuries of experience, weeks of planning, and hours of painstaking labor to fashion and fire. In this feature, pull back the wrapping on a typical aerial display shell and see what it looks like before its glorious denouement in the dark.”

This site also provides a fireworks recognition primer and test, a section on how fire works, and an interview with a pyrotechnic maestro.

And from a different site:
How are different colours in fireworks achieved?

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