One of the founding fathers of the modern British military suppliers was Sir Basil Zaharoff. Born in rural Turkey, he worked as a brothel tout, counterfeit currency dealer, banker, private arms trader and, finally, the respected director of Vickers, the British armaments manufacturer that was the forerunner of BAE Systems. He spared no effort in sabotaging his competitors’ products, bribing foreign military leaders and arming both sides in a war. Britain made him a baron and he died in 1936, laden with honours.