From the American Revolution to NAFTA to the Helms-Burton Act, Canada and the United States offers a current, thoughtful assessment of relations between the two countries. Distilling a mass of detail concerning cultural, economic, and political developments of mutual importance during the past two centuries, this survey enables readers to grasp quickly the essence of the shared experience of these two countries.

Despite the oft-repeated platitudes about a "special relationship" between the two neighbors, the authors argue that what is striking is the great extent to which American policy toward Canada conforms to U.S. policy toward the rest of the world. Any contemporary trend toward consensus and convergence between the United States and Canada, they conclude, must be viewed through the lens of two centuries of ambiguity and ambivalence.