When considering the history of surgery along with medicine, one can argue that they started, evolved and changed in a similar way and at a similar rate the human civilisation did. In the ancient world, the Romans as well as the Greeks were ahead of the game in medicine thanks to names like Hippocrates and Galen who lead the way. It wasn't until the 1400s that medical books in Turkish were written in Anatolia which constitute the main sources of reference to those interested in the history of medicine in the region. A prime example to the books of this time is "Cerrahiyetü'l- Haniyye" by Şerefeddin Sabuncuoğlu, a Turkish physician of the time. Born in 1385, Sabuncuoğlu started his medical training in the hospital of Amasya (also a medical school) at the age of 17. After 14 years of service in this institution he worked in various other Anatolian cities like Kastamonu, Gerede and Bolu. At the age of 83, he published his most influential work, Cerrahiyetü'l- Haniyye, which deals with fields including orthopedics and traumatology, thoracic surgery, general surgery, pediatric surgery, and neurosurger. Sabuncuoğlu was special in a lot of ways. He was a good clinician, writer, illustrator and a good teacher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]