October issue of History Today

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

In the October edition of History Today, Charles Emmerson argues that the Tsarist Russia of one hundred years ago was enjoying an economic and technological boom, coinciding with the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty. Had the First World War been avoided, the 20th century should have been a peaceful and prosperous one for the Russian people.
Also in this issue:

• Alun Withey paints a very different picture of early modern medicine than the one often portrayed, of crude, ineffective treatments;

• Richard Barber pieces together evidence from chronicles and eyewitnesses that demonstrate the military genius of Edward III in his great victory over the French at Crécy in 1346;

• Richard Sanders celebrates the working-class pioneers who brought beauty to the once brutal public school game of football;

• Jonathan Conlin tells the story of the cross-Channel cultural ferment that gave birth to the Cancan;

• Stephen Bourne tells the story of the black volunteers from Britain and its Empire who served in the First World War;

• Hannah Greig studies the stylish radicals of Georgian London;

• Ben Wilson considers three centuries of Anglo-Spanish tensions in Gibraltar;

• Althea Williams recalls a daring, deadly breakout from an extermination camp in eastern Poland;

• And Tom Holland draws parallels between the recent Egyptian army coup and events in the age of the pharaohs.

The October issue is out on September 19th; you can also download the digital edition for iPad, Kindle Fire and Android from September 17th.