Welcome at BBC History UK Magazine July 2021 Issue

Every crisis brings opportunities. While many businesses have struggled or collapsed during the Covid-19 pandemic, others have been able to adapt and thrive in the changing economic landscape. It was just the same during the Black Death of the 14th century. Amid the great suffering and hardship, there where merchants who took advantage of the chaos and disruption to earn huge profits to the horror of some of some of those around them. In this month’s cover feature, on page 20, medieval historian Robert Blackmore explains how fortunes were made in the darkest of days. His piece is followed by an interview with Niall Ferguson (page 29), exploring how societies have responded to pandemics and other catastrophes over the millennia.
One catastrophe that thankfully didn’t come to pass is a nuclear conflict betwen Usa and and the Soviet Union. In the autumn of the 1962 however, the prospect seemed very real as the superpowers faced of in the waters surrounding Cuba. In his article on page 58, Serhii Plokhy reveals quite how close the world came to armageddon.
Finally, I’m delighted to be welcoming a new columnist to the magazine this month. The historian, author and broadcaster Emma Dabiri is taking over from David Olusoga as the author of
Hidden Histories, and she begins with the life of a formerly enslaved woman in the American South who wrote a powerful account on her struggle for freedom ( more at magazine page 16). It is a fascinating story and one that, as the column’s title suggests, deserves to be better known today.
Rob Attar
Editor
THIS ISSUE’S CONTRIBUTORS

Download from:

NitroFlare

• BBC Music – July 2021
• Bloomberg Businessweek Asia – 10 June 2021