Life today is a lot different than it was in the past. Think of the things you have today. The clothes you wear. The kind of home you live in. The foods you eat. Many of these probably wouldn't be the same if you were living in a different period of time. Through the stories of the If You Were a Kid series, readers are transported to some of the most important moments in history with an exciting mix of fiction and nonfiction. Fascinating Fact: In European history, the time period from roughly the 5th to the 15th century is known as the medieval era, or the Middle Ages.