Have you looked at Ask Historians Wiki->Booklist->Europe->Middle Ages? The overview section sounds like it would a good place to start

There's a lot more I could recommend, but I just wanted to point to this recent comment of mine recommending some books on pretty much exactly what you're asking for.

I also recently personally compiled and posted a small list of the (mainly) single and hopefully introductory overview book that covered whole medieval period (about 500-1500) in: Best Medieval History books?

(Added): As for the introductory books for individual sub-period (High and Later Middle Ages), the following previous posts of mine might also be interesting:

• Book recommendations for 11th century Europe
• Are there any history books on the Late Middle Ages?

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Just in case for more specific theme-oriented books on OP might be interested in, I make and post a short list of such books (perhaps not for the total beginner on the topic) below, and especially make a note of names of the relevant scholars like Robert Bartlett, David Crouch and/or Constance Bouchard.

• Bartlett, Robert. The Making of Europe: Conquest, Colonization, and Cultural Change, 950-1350. Penguin/ Princeton UP, 1993: Bartlett's this book is not about the details of the event in chronological order, and thematically arranged arguments on some important topics occurred in the High Middle Ages that would contribute to the formation and spread of the more uniform 'European' culture also into its fringe part. Aristocratic diaspora like the Norman Hautville family played an important role in the process, he argues.
• ________. Blood Royal: Dynastic Politics in Medieval Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2020.
• Bouchard, Constance. "Strong of Body, Brave and Noble": Chivalry and Society in Medieval France. Princeton, NJ: Cornell UP, 1998.

About the last generation (since late 1980s) not so a few excellent academic books/ works especially on the 11th century Normans and Normandy have been published that we should wait for a new up-to-date introductory book for a moment. For the moment, my personal recommendation for its introduction is: Francois Neveux. A Brief History of the Normans: The Conquests that Changed the Face of Europe, trans. Howard Curtis. London: Robinson, 2008. The author (Neveux) is a French scholar specialized in Normandy.