As to some specific subjects, “The Tragedy of the Templars” by Michael Haag was a really interesting and easy to follow account of the creation of the knights Templar and an introductory account of the crusades who/why/when/how and I think a great jumping off point to almost any direction after that concerning that period of time.

“The Norman Conquest” and “The Anglo-Saxons”by Marc Morris are point by point based histories of England before and after 1060 AD, it’s very thorough but read carefully will teach you from the ground up what happened and a lot you never knew. Fascinating facts about the English language before and after Normans flooded the place.

“Henry VIII and the Men who Made him” by Tracey Borman is not your usual six wives etc etc portrait of Henry but a look into the people and forces that shaped him and the decisions he made. Highly recommend because that set me off into reading so much about Cromwell and becoming a Cromwell apologist/enthusiast.

“Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World” by Jack Weatherford was so interesting, it’s a fairly short book about who the Mongols were and what they really accomplished beyond the flat descriptor that they were only killers and barbarians. This one I can’t recommend enough since it has so many talking points about the Mongols beyond the normal tropes.

I probably have more on my shelves I’ve read if anyone is interested:)