I have been binging on the Swedish Empire recently.
Currently I'm trying to get a bit into pre-Columbus and early Colonial Americas. That's something I don't know much about because its just so separated from what some world historians call the 'Imperial Core'.
If you are interested in late medival times, I highly recommend this series on the Dutch Revolt, its among the best and most detailed series of video on any history topic I have found:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5kdplBvGykV1KKcYbH6X...
I read Layered Money, and it talked about the VoC, but I think that's a few decades after the Dutch Revolt. I'll check it out!
If you want a wild story, read about Judah P. Benjamin. He was the descendant of Sephardic Jewish refugees from the Spanish Inquisition, he was the first openly Jewish U.S. senator (representing Louisiana), eventually a Confederate Cabinet member, and finally a barrister in England. To top it all off, he was likely gay. To put things into perspective, he was a partner in sugar plantation, a slave owner, and an prominent advocate for slavery. Usually when you hear anything about the man, it's his international resume, not the fact of his slave ownership.
These sound like great places to continue reading. I really enjoyed The Ottomans by Marc David Baer. I love that history is so much weirder (and relevant) than fiction. It's easier to connect with people, and understand where they might be coming from, when you understand some history. You can't say that for a lot of sci-fi/fantasy outside of the Snow Crash and The Lord of the Rings.