Be sure and catch the Atlas of Civilisation series, in this case appropriate chapters of The Cultural Atlas of France, The Cultural Atlas of Russia, etc.
Boucher, Francois
Twenty Thousand Years of Fashion; the History of Costume and Personal Adornment **** Harry N. Abrams, 1966; 440 pg, index, glossary Rather good in this period. T1
Bury, J. B.
History of the Later Roman Empire **** Dover; 1000 pg in 2 vol. From 395 to 565, so you can expect detail. T2
Cartwright, Frederick F.
Disease and History **** Dorset Gives malaria equal billing with barbarians in bringing down the Roman Empire, and generally discusses the effect of plagues and epidemics on history. T2
Delbrueck, Hans
The Barbarian Invasions **** v. 2 of History of the Art of War, trans. by J. Renfroe, Jr.; University of Nebraska Press; 1980 trans. of 1921 rev.; 505 pg, index, sources, translations of source documents Excellent coverage of the development from the days of Tiberias and the Battle of Teutoberger Forest, to the armies of Justinian, on into the early Middle Ages. T2
Dennis, George T.
Three Byzantine Military Treatises **** Washington, D.C. : Dumbarton Oaks, Research Library and Collection, 1985; indexes and bibliography. Dennis provides text, translations, and notes on 'Skirmishing', 'On Strategy' (anon), and 'Campaign Organization and Tactics'. Excellent if this is what you need because you are following some military character, or the military rides in to rescue your main characters. In English and Greek. T3
Dunning, R. W.
Arthur: The King in the West **** St. Martin's Press; 164 pgs Another exploration of Arthur as an actual king, but jumping off the conventional placements to follow the strong connection to Glastonbury Abbey. Like many religious establishments, the Abbey was quite a fortress, and the tombs of Arthur and Guenivere were found there in the Middle Ages. A nice case for Glastonbury being Camelot, if you forget all the French trappings pasted onto the story later. T2
.Grousset, Rene
The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia *** Barnes & Noble; trans. by Naomi Walford Another slightly misleading title, this book is actually only about the Hun and Mongol leaders (there are arguements back and forth about whether the two groups are the same or separate people), Attila, Genghis Khan, and Tamerlane. T2
Haywood, John
Dark Age Naval Power; a Reassessment of Frankish and Anglo-Saxon Naval Activity **** Routledge, 1991 Treats the naval abilities of these two people, often portrayed as complete landlubbers helpless in the face of Viking or Saracen naval raiders, and explores how they used their maritime ability to keep their foes off their shores, WHEN they were sufficiently united to undertake the coordination of navies. T2
Hetherington, P.
Byzantine and Medieval Greece *** Concentrates on art and architecture, especially religious, of the area we now call Greece, under the various rulers until the arrival of the Turks.
Hodgkin, T.
Huns, Vandals and the Fall of the Roman Empire ** This Victorian book, still in print, is perhaps a trifle too trad in what "destroyed the Roman Empire," since it can be cogently argued that by the time of Diocletian Rome was a museum city, a quaint old tourist stop, and had as much to do with the ruling of empire as Colonial Williamsburg has to do with Virginia politics, and that the "Roman Empire" had already given way to successor states; just no-one would admit it. This follows the Classical authors to describe the politics in the times of Attilla, and how successive waves of barbarians eventually came to rule Italy, and create the Dark Ages and Medieval states. T1
Hyland, Ann
The Medieval Warhorse: From Byzantium to the Crusades *****! Alan Sutton Excellent! Covers not only the military develoopment of heavy armored horses, but also their care. T2
Ingraham, Holly
People's Names: A Cross-cultural Reference Guide to the Proper Use of Over 40,000 Personal and Familial Names in Over 100 Cultures *****! McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, Jefferson, NC; 1997; 613 pgs, index, select annotated bibliography Covers Late Latin and Neo-Punic practices, the development of Byzantine naming, and plenty of names for Greeks, Hebrews, Celts, and Germanic barbarians. T1
Kohler, Carl
A History of Costume **** Dover Publications, Inc., NY Hand-sized, info-packed, based on surviving clothes first and artwork secondarily. Author's line drawings of construction and detail. Neophytes should use with a picture book, which it will greatly clarify. T1
Llewellyn, Peter
Rome in the Dark Ages **** Barnes & Noble, NY; 340 pg Covers from the 400's through the 900's, which by our cut is more in this period. An obscure period on which cne can rarely find any books, let alone a good one. Covers the development of the papacy through the development of the Holy Roman Empire. T2
Lopez, Robert S.
The Birth of Europe *** Evans-Lippincott Covers the changes in civilization from the 300's through the 1300's. T1
Mainstone, Rowland J.
Hagia Sophia: Architecture, Structure and Liturgy of Justinian's Great Church **** Thames & Hudson Probably more than you ever need to know about this one church, especially as it continues down time, but you sure will sound authoritative. Constantly illustrated. T3
Majno, Guido, MD
The Healing Hand: Man and Wound in the Ancient World *****! Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1975 Heavy research and testing, too, to see how well period practices actually worked. Fascinating reading. Among others, covers classic medicine of Galen, who dominates through the Middle Ages. T1
McEvedy, Colin
The Penguin Atlas of Ancient History *** Penguin Books, 1967; 96 pg, index The last chapters cover the situation in 362. T1
Morris, John
The Age of Arthur **** Barnes & Noble Treats Arthur as a Dark Ages warlord, "the starting point of British history" (despite centuries of better documented British existence), the linchpin of his view of the development of Britain from the 300's to the 600's when British power gave way to the English. T2
Norwich, John Julius
Byzantium: The Early Centuries *****! Knopf Don't try to do Byzantium without this! Covers up to 800 (we didn't pick our era divisions out of a hat). All the drama in detail. T2-3 A Short History of Byzantium **** Knopf This fat book only gets four stars because there is the author's three volume full detail history. Covers from 330 to 1453. T2
Byzantium: The Early Centuries *****! Knopf Don't try to do Byzantium without this! Covers up to 800 (we didn't pick our era divisions out of a hat). All the drama in detail. T2-3
A Short History of Byzantium **** Knopf This fat book only gets four stars because there is the author's three volume full detail history. Covers from 330 to 1453. T2
Osprey Military Books
The worst book out by Osprey still gets three stars. The best are five stars and a bang. These are each a dense, military monograph on weapons, tactics, strategy, and history, with some little cultural background. Rarely at libraries, you will usually find these where military miniatures are sold. T2 Saxon Thegn; #5, Warrior Series In the Men-at-Arms Series: Romano-Byzantine Armies 4th-9th C.; #247 Byzantine Armies 886-1118; #89 Armies of the Muslim Conquest; #255 Arthur & the Anglo-Saxon Wars; #154
The worst book out by Osprey still gets three stars. The best are five stars and a bang. These are each a dense, military monograph on weapons, tactics, strategy, and history, with some little cultural background. Rarely at libraries, you will usually find these where military miniatures are sold. T2
Pellikan, Jaroslav
Christianity and Classical Culture *** Concentrates on the 300's in Byzantium, where the two culture reached a peak of melding.
Rice, T.T.
Everyday Life in Byzantium *****! Barnes & Noble, NY Covers not only the Imperial Court (why go to Byzantium if you don't go there?) but less etherial levels of life, too. T1
Rodgers, William Ledyard
Naval Warfare Under Oars, 4th to 16th Centuries; A Study of Strategy, Tactics and Ship Design *** 1940, 1967; now from Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 1990; 358 pg, index; at the end of each chapter, Authorities Chiefly Consulted Especial attention paid to the Byzantine conflicts with the Arabs. T3
Salway, Peter
The Oxford Illustrated History of Roman Britain **** Oxford, Cambridge; 563 pgs Starts with the evidence before the invasion by Julius Caesar, and follows the Roman occupation through its end in the 400's. T1
Stierlin, Henri, ed.
Architecture of the World: Romanesque **** Taschen, 192pg, color & B&W This is the style of architecture before the Medieval Gothic of the 1100's, but after the collapse of Classic, white marble pillars stuff, which faded with Christianity's coming. Often slighted between the two other styles which the Victorians liked. T1
Wand, J. W. C.
A History of the Early Church *****! 1937; now from Routledge; 300 pgs Covers the development of the church and theology, with its struggles against paganism, the development of heresies, and in this period, the effect of being the state religion. T2
Warry, John
Warfare in the Classical World **** Salamander Books, London, 1980 Excellent coverage of naval as well as land forces, including very recent reconstructions of pentekonters, triremes, etc. Covers the enemy troops, as well as the Greeks and Romans, up through Justinian, with lighter coverage through Charlemagne. T1
Wood, Ian
The Merovingian Kingdoms: 450-751 *****! Longman At long last, everything in one place. The Merovingian monarchs often suffer in historians' opinons because of the hatchet job done to glorify the Carlovingians who usurped their rule over France, Germany, and points between. Includes genealogy charts. T2
http://atlantic.evsc.virginia.edu/julia/AncientWorld.html Superb linksite, which it would be silly to try and duplicate here. Especially fine for including Asian, American, and African sections, not just Europe and the Near East.
http://www.uky.edu/ArtsSciences/Classics/gender.html Whole section on women in the Roman Empire, women in early Christianity, on up through some odd articles on the Middle Ages.
http://www.ucr.edu/h-gig/topperindex.html A thorough-going linksite maintained by the University of California at Riverside, H-GIG sorts by area, by era (ancient<yours>, Medieval, early Modern, Modern, and 20th C), or by topic (military, women, etc.). It's a good place to start a hunt for books and essays online.