What, no Geoffrey Trease? I'm certain I learned as much history from his books as I did from any teacher. Favourites were the pair
The Hills of Varna
and
Crown of Violet
- the first a Renaissance adventure as two young people braved the Ottoman Empire to recover the last manuscript of an Athenian comedy, the second (yes it was written later) a story about the writing of the play in classical Athens.
Re: part 2 - the rest