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The Middle Ages get a bad rap. These ten books show why they shouldn’t — a thousand years of plague, faith, war, art, and the slow building of the modern world.
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1. A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century by Barbara Tuchman
Tuchman builds a century of plague and war around the life of a single French knight.
2. The Plantagenets by Dan Jones
250 years of English drama from Henry II to Richard II. Jones writes narrative history beautifully.
3. The Crusades by Thomas Asbridge
The most accessible serious history of the Crusades available.
4. The Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer
Practical, immersive, and frequently funny. What medieval England was actually like to live in.
5. The Hundred Years War by Jonathan Sumption
The four-volume magnum opus. Start with Volume 1 (Trial by Battle) and see if you’re hooked.
6. The Wars of the Roses by Dan Jones
England’s dynastic civil war. Jones again, on the right side of readability.
7. The Norman Conquest by Marc Morris
1066 and what came after. The most lucid recent account of how England was transformed.
8. The Black Death by John Hatcher
The 14th-century pandemic told through one English village.
9. Medieval Lives by Terry Jones
Yes, the Python. A surprisingly good corrective to medieval stereotypes.
10. The Templars: The Rise and Spectacular Fall by Dan Jones
The most famous of the military orders, told with energy.
Last updated: 2026-06-16. As an Amazon Associate, HistoryTales earns from qualifying purchases.
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