The memoir attributed to Mehmed II is a metal-framed text discovered in the satchel of Hyria, a chief amongst a band of East African tomb-raiders. It is some several hundred years old and of real archaeological worth. Within it are letters touching the rule of Wallachia and the Ottoman court, including exchanges that concern Vlad III and Radu the Handsome. Its value lies in this very connexion to figures and events of consequence, and above all to the balance of power in that age.