I recently finished reading Dan Jones’ newest book Powers and Thrones: A New History of the Middle Ages. It’s a very informative read that covers the history of the Middle Ages from the fall of the Roman Empire to the Reformation from not just the perspective of Europe, but the Middle East and Asia as well (and touching on the Americas at the end). Jones does a great job of tying things happening in distant places together to explain how events in, for instance, the Eurasian Steppe influenced things in Western Europe. Every now and then, there’s even an aside to show us that things might not really be all that different today than they were then and how events from the Middle Ages still influence the happenings of today. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Powers and Thrones and highly recommend it; it’s not a short read but you won’t be sorry you started.