The best books on the Renaissance include The Swerve, Brunelleschi’s Dome, Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson, The Medici by Paul Strathern, Lives of the Artists and The Prince.

The best books on Medieval England include The Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England, The Plantagenets, The Norman Conquest, Life in a Medieval Village, The Greatest Knight and The Pillars of the Earth.

The best books on the Black Death include The Great Mortality, The Black Death by Philip Ziegler, A Distant Mirror, The Decameron, Year of Wonders and Doomsday Book.

The best books on the Knights Templar include The Templars by Dan Jones, The New Knighthood, The Trial of the Templars, The Knights Templar by Helen Nicholson, The Murdered Magicians and The Iron King.

The best books on the Crusades include The Crusades by Thomas Asbridge, God’s War, The Crusades Through Arab Eyes, Crusaders by Dan Jones, A History of the Crusades and The First Crusade by Peter Frankopan.

The best books on the Byzantine Empire include Byzantium by Judith Herrin, A Short History of Byzantium, Lost to the West, The New Roman Empire, 1453 and The Alexiad.

The best books on the Ottoman Empire include Osman’s Dream, Lords of the Horizons, The Ottomans by Marc David Baer, The Fall of the Ottomans, Empress of the East and My Name Is Red.

The best books on the Mongol Empire include Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, The Mongols by David Morgan, The Mongol Conquests in World History, The Secret History of the Mongols and Khubilai Khan.

The best books on the Vikings include The Children of Ash and Elm, The Sea Wolves, The Vikings by Neil Oliver, River Kings, The Sagas of Icelanders and Norse Mythology.

The best books on Ancient Greece include The Histories by Herodotus, Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War, Persian Fire, The Greeks by H.D.F. Kitto, Introducing the Ancient Greeks and The Odyssey.