Does anybody have a great medieval history book to recommend?

Hi, I’m trying to start a book list to begin medieval history as a hobby. I don’t care about historical fiction vs non fiction.

The regions I am familiar with are Central Asia, the Caucuses, and Eastern Europe, but that is just because I have read a book on the USSR. So I am open to learning about any region, possibly Southeastern Asia or Europe as a whole could be interesting. I don’t know much about Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucuses in the medieval era, either, just the modern era.

But again, I’m open to learning about any region.

That being said, it would probably be helpful to read some broader books going into the hobby.

That’s why I’m open to good books on the Roman Empire’s influence on Europe (Holy Roman Empire, Frankish Empire, Papacy). Yes, I know this is antiquity, but I’ve heard a lot of the medieval world was shaped by Romans.

Any overviews of regions, time periods, the era as a whole would be helpful too, but again, I am trying to avoid super academic books because it is just a hobby, but if there are some spectacular academic works you must recommend I am all ears. It just seems like academic = wordy and a slog oftentimes.

Lastly, I am super open to historical fiction. It helps me understand what is happening on a small scale, I think historical fiction is necessary to understand what life was like.

Any suggestions are much appreciated! 🙂