A Great and Terrible King: Edward I and the Forging of Britain by Marc Morris (nonfiction 2009)

Edward was an amazing man, very long-lived as well as long-limbed.  This book follows the ins and outs of his adventurous and global life, and it does a great job of connecting the threads of his experiences throughout time.  Highly recommended especially for the attempt to put Edward's more notorious acts in the context of the times.

The Middle Ages by Johannes Fried (nonfiction 2015)

Mr. Fried is obviously a very learned person.  This is a giant book that kept me reading many times when I was supposed to be doing something else.  It covers military, social and political history but my favorite parts are about transmission of ancient thought through the Middle Ages.  Mr. Fried has convinced me that these times were not "dark," that in fact the foundation was laid then for who we are today.

The Woman who Would be King: Hatshepsut's Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt by Kara Cooney (nonfiction 2014)

Ms. Cooney takes an exciting and interesting approach to telling Hatshepsut's story.  Since the queen is so far in the ancient past and many of her monuments were destroyed, the author takes care to spell out when she is riffing off the evidence, which she does throughout the book.  I thought it was pretty effective.