Rhetoric: Medieval/Early Renaissance: 400 A.D. - 1600 A.D.
A Concise History of Spain (Cambridge Concise Histories) by William D. Phillips and Carla Rahn Phillips (Nonfiction/Survey history--Paleolithic Era-Present)
The History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth (Nonfiction/Narrative Chronology--12th-century B.C.-5th-century A.D.)
Britain Begins by Barry Cunliffe (Nonfiction/Britain/Ireland/Archaeology/DNA/History survey--10,000 B.C.-1066 A.D.)
Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, and Science by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos (Nonfiction/Survey--7000 B.C.-21st century)
The Middle Ages: An Illustrated History by Barbara A. Hanawalt (Nonfiction/Survey--476-1453)
The Light Ages: The Surprising Story of Medieval Science by Seb Falk (Nonfiction/Survey)
King Lear by William Shakespeare (Play - Legend/Britain--pre-Christian, perhaps Arthurian times, late 5th/early 6th centuries)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight as told by J.R.R. Tolkien (Arthurian Legend--late 5th or early 6th-century)
Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell (Novel in verse/Britain/Arthurian war camp/Saxon wars--5th-century)
Beowulf [I'm a fan of Seamus Heaney's translation] (Epic poem/Scandinavia--6th century)
Grendel by John Gardner (Beowulf from the monster's viewpoint--6th-century)
1001 Inventions: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Civilization by Salim T. S. Al-Hussani; National Geographic (Nonfiction--600s on)
Bloodline by Katy Moran (Novel/Dark Age Britain--c. 650)
Kingdoms of Faith: A New History of Islamic Spain by Brian Catlos (Nonfiction/Survey--700-1614)
The Song of Roland by Anonymous (French epic/Medieval code of chivalry/Charlemagne--778)
The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain by Maria Rosa Menocal (Nonfiction--786-1492)
The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings by Lars Brownworth (Nonfiction/Vikings/British Isles--793)
The Poetic Edda: Stories of the Norse Gods and Heroes trans. by Jackson Crawford (Norse pre-Christian/Icelandic sagas--793)
The Viking Saga in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isles by Pall Thormod Morrison (Nonfiction/Vikings/British Isles/Norse Sagas--793)
Sons of Vikings: A Legendary History of the Viking Age by David Gray Rodgers (Nonfiction/Short biographies--793-1066)
The Viking Spirit: An Introduction to Norse Mythology and Religion by Daniel McCoy (Norse mythology--793-1066)
The Sagas of Ragnar Lodbrok (Norse sagas--870s)
The Dragon and the Raven: Or, The Days of King Alfred by G. A. Henty (Novel/Wessex/Anglo-Saxons--871-899)
The Edge on the Sword by Rebecca Tingle (Novel/Wessex/Mercia/Anglo-Saxons/Daughter of Alfred, wife of Aethelred/Warrior queen/fabulous book--c. 870-918, in power--reigned in Mercia from 902-918)
The Far Traveler: Voyages of a Viking Woman by Nancy Marie Brown (Nonfiction/Biography/Gudrid Thorbjarnardottir/Iceland/Newfoundland/most well-traveled woman of the Middle Ages/lived--c. 985-1050)
Macbeth by William Shakespeare (Play/Scotland and England--1040-1057)
The Sea Road by Margaret Elphinstone (Novel/Vikings/North Atlantic exploration--1051)
1066: The Year of the Conquest by David Howarth (before and after the Battle of Hastings/why it mattered--1066)
The Crusades: The Authoritative History of the War for the Holy Land by Thomas Asbridge (Nonfiction/The very BEST account--1095-1291)
God's Battallions: The Case for the Crusades by Rodney Stark (Nonfiction/Decent account for those not wanting to tackle the lengthy Asbridge--1095-1291)
Wild Orchid: a Retelling of the Ballad of Mulan by Cameron Dokey (China--1100s)
The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley (England--1100s)
Genghis: Birth of an Empire by Conn Iggulden [1st in a series] (Novel/Monguls--1170s)
Worth Dying For: A Story of the Waldensians by Nicholas Stoltzfus (Novel--late 12th century)
The Queen's Daughter by Susan Coventry (Biographical novel/England/Sicily/Joan, daughter of King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine/Queen of Sicily--1177-1199)
Winning His Spurs by G. A. Henty (Novel/Third Crusade--1182-1192)
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott (Novel/Richard I return from First Crusade/John the Usurper--1194)
Unholy Crusade: The Ransacking of Medieval Constantinople by William Lace (Nonfiction - Fourth Crusade--1203-1204)
The Essential Rumi by Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi (Poetry/Persia/My absolute favorite poet--1207-1273)
The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry (Novel/France/Inquisition--1241)
Life in the Middle Ages by Frances Gies (Nonfiction - City of Troyes--1250)
The Travels by Marco Polo (Nonfiction - Europe/Asia--1271)
The Wicked and the Just by J. Anderson Coats (Novel/Wales/Prejudice--1293)
In Freedom's Cause by G. A. Henty (Novel/William Wallace and Robert the Bruce--1297-1329)
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (Play/Verona--exact time period unknown, c. 1300)
The Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century Barbara W. Tuchman (Nonfiction/Europe/Sweeping, lyrical/Study of a century of history in one volume--1300s)
Mansa Musa and the Empire of Mali by P. James Oliver (Nonfiction - Mali/West Africa--early 1300s)
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (Epic journey through hell, purgatory, and heaven--pub. 1320)
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (Europe/Black Death--1346-1353)
The Cure by Sonia Levitin [9th and 10th grades] (Time travelBlack Death/antisemitism--1348)
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (1380s or 90s--For high schoolers, I suggest the Bantam Classics edition, translated by Peter Beidler--it is a parallel text version with old English on the left-hand pages and a lively modern translation on the right)
Men of Iron by Howard Pyle (Novel/Henry IV of England/Betrayal--1400)
Henry V by William Shakespeare (Play/England--1413-1422)
Joan of Arc by Mark Twain (Nonfiction/Biography/France/Hundred Years' War--1431)
Signora da Vinci
The Tigress of Forli: Renaissance Italy's Most Courageous and Notorious Countess, Caterina Riario Sforza de' Medici by Elizabeth Lev (Nonfiction/Strong women--1477-1509)
Richard III by William Shakespeare] (Play/England--1483-1485)
1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus by Charles C. Mann (Nonfiction - Americas--1491)
1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created by Charles C. Mann (Nonfiction -Americas--1493)
Conquerors: How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire by Roger Crowley (Portugal/Trade/Colonialism--1497)
The Samurai's Tale by Erik Christian Haugaard (Japan--1500s)
Patience, Princess Catherine by Carolyn Meyer (Biographical Fiction/Henry VIII first wife/Queen of England--1509-1533)
Reformation Sketches: Insights into Luther, Calvin, and the Confessions by W. Robert Godfrey (Nonfiction/Theological survey--1517-1625)
The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston (Nonfiction/Legendary city/History of those who looked for it/Cortes through modern technology--1520s to 2017)
The Moor's Account by Laila Lalami (Novel/Moorish slave viewpoint/Spanish Conquistadors/Florida/American South--1527-1536)
Doomed Queen Anne: She Risked Everything to Become Queen by Carolyn Meyer (Young Royals - England--1533-1536)
Duchessina: A Novel of Catherine de' Medici by Carolyn Meyer (Biographical Fiction/Italy/Queen of France/power--1533-1589)
The King's Fifth by Scott O'Dell (southwest north America--1541)
Raven Queen by Pauline Francis (Novel/Lady Jane Grey/Queen of England [for all of nine days]--1553)
The Age of Religious Wars: 1559-1715 by Richard S. Dunn (Nonfiction/Survey--1559-1715)
The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andric (Fiction, but.../History of the Bosnian people--1566-1915)
The Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre: A Brief History with Documents by Barbara B. Diefendorf (Nonfiction/French Wars of Religion/Catholics/Huguenots--1572)
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (Spain--late 1500s)
Love Disguised by Lisa Klein (Novel/18 yr. old William Shakespeare/London/Theater--1582)
A World Away by Pauline Francis (Novel/Lost Roanoke Colony--1586)
The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spencer (Epic Poem/England--1590-1596)