Wa alaykum assalam,
What era are you looking at specifically?
Ibn al Kathir's the 'Stories of the Prophets' gives a really fascinating introduction to the lives of the ancient prophets, which you can build up on.
As for the era of the Prophet Muhammad :saws: a seerah like the one by Martin lings or Tariq Ramadan is good.
And as for times such as the Islamic Golden Age or the Muslim period of Spain, I don't know to be honest, I struggle myself with finding good books on the subject, I would cautiously approach any works written by Orientalists, they're not the most reliable and should be read with a pinch of salt.