In the 1950s, SOAS Ottoman historian V.J. Parry, best known for his work on Ottoman weapons and explosives technology, embarked on a doctoral dissertation which was to be an evaluation and presentation of Richard Knolles´ famous Generall Historie of the Turkes (1603). Yet Parry´s manuscript, a fundamental companion to that early text, remained undiscovered until his death. Embellished with numerous anecdotes illustrating the ruthlessness and exotic splendor of this Eastern people, Turkish critic Orhan Buria