Your Country, My Country: A Unified History of the United States and Canada

by Robert Bothwell

land of hockey, terrible weather, unfailing politeness-and little else, as far as many Americans are aware. For Canadians, the United States is seen as a land of unparalleled opportunity and unparalleled failure, a country of heights and abysses. The straitlaced country in the north could hardly have much to tell about its powerhouse of a neighbor to the south, eh?

Not so, according to historian Robert Bothwell. In this witty and accessible book, Bothwell argues that the shared history of the United States and Canada reveals more about each country than most would suspect. Your Country, My Country takes readers back to the seventeenth century, when a shared British colonial heritage set the two lands on paths that would remain intertwined to the present day. Tracing Canadian-American relations, shared values, and differences through the centuries, Bothwell suggests that Americans are neither unique nor exceptional, in terms of both their good characteristics and their bad ones. He brings this contention down to the present day by examining Canadian and American differences over such questions as universal health care in domestic policy and the Iraq war in foreign policy. What happens in Canada often reflects what has happened in the United States, but by the same token, what happens in Canada signals what could happen in its American neighbor.
From whatever direction, this innovative volume contends, Canada's story illuminates America's-and vice-versa.

Genres: History, Canada, Nonfiction, The Americas

432 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2015

About the author

Robert Bothwell is a professor of Canadian history, and the foremost scholar on Canadian Cold War participation, as well as a frequently published author.

Bothwell completed his BA at the University of Toronto and his PhD at Harvard University. He is currently Director of the University of Toronto's International Relations program at Trinity College, where he is a fellow, and a professor of Canadian political and diplomatic history. Bothwell holds the May Gluskin Chair in Canadian History. His research interests include modern Canadian history and political, diplomatic and military history. Bothwell is an expert on Canada-U.S. relations.

Reviews

[Joseph Spuckler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Your Country, My Country: A Unified History of the United States and Canada by Robert Bothwell is a captivating look at North American history. Bothwell completed his BA at the University of Toronto and his PhD at Harvard University He is currently Director of the University of Toronto's International Relations program at Trinity College, where he is a fellow and a professor of Canadian political and diplomatic history.

I was born and raised about fifty miles from Canada and I was well into adulthood and far removed from Ohio before I ever visited the country. I went to Sudan before I ever made it to Canada, and I can easily name more Mexican presidents than Canadian prime ministers. What do most Americans know about Canada? Burning the White House and maybe "48' 40" or Fight." I could add peacekeeping, Trudeau (but, mostly Margret), and the phase array radar off the top of my head, but the answer is very little, even for someone with a history degree.

Bothwell looks a the history of the United States and Canada on a single connected timeline. This actually shows how much the two countries are really connected by events and proximity. The connections run deep and throughout both countries histories. Early on, it was Britain controlling the interests of both countries and later it would play the role of the outsider competing for attention. Interesting facts and are brought up throughout the book. The American Revolution (more realistically called a civil war) was devastating for Britain. Britain's American holdings went from controlling essentially the entire east coast of the northern hemisphere down to the Caribbean to holding a population of less than 250,000 of mostly French speaking people. Inviting the tories from the formerly colonies north to farm did little to grow the population. Growing a population would remain a problem for Canada for some time.

Canada also suffered from being in the shadows. First, it was the shadow of Britain and later the United States. Woodrow Wilson propped up Canada’s prestige early on by supporting Canada’s representation as a nation at Versailles, rather than part of the British Empire. After World War II, Canada was an individual nation on the world stage as a member of NATO. Although not known for its militarism, Canada gave much in people and supplies in both world wars and the beginning of the Cold War. When expressed as a percent of population Canada contributed more soldiers in World War II than most countries and did so without having a draft until November of 1944. Canada later took to peacekeeping and reducing its military budget.

Recent American presidents varied in opinions of Canada. Reagan accused Canada of being light on defense. LBJ “had no feeling for Canada, disliked its prime minister (Pearson), and visited it as little as possible.” Carter and Trudeau got along very well. There were earlier presidents who were just waiting to include Canada into the United States. Peaceful relations between the countries didn’t always mean good relations. Trade had always been a sticking point -- First with Britain and presently with Mexico.

Bothwell presents a history of Canada and the United States that is greater than the history of the individual countries. Although our two countries are separate, they are closely related, and the actions of one have a consequence on the other. Canada is fully out of the shadows and makes its own decisions. A recent example is Canada’s willingness to join the United States in Afghanistan after 9/11, but its refusal to participate in the Second Gulf War. Your Country, My Country is an excellent work of history. For the American reader, there is plenty of new information along with, and more importantly, explanations for American historical events that are more clearly explained in their complete context. A very educational and well-documented read.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting exercise, though after a while I started to skim a bit. Mostly once I got to the 20th century, which is past my scholarly era. I'm not quite sure what to make of it - it bills itself as a "unified history," but I feel like most of the time it is a history of how Canada was interacting with the world, and how the US was interacting with the world, and whether they were on the same page or not. Early on there is a lot of triangulation between what Washington wants, and what London wants, and what Toronto/Quebec/Ottawa wants. Then later London falls away and it is more a matter of the US sometimes ignoring Canada, and sometimes getting interested in Canada again, and the Canadians trying to figure out trade policy. I know that sounds boring, but it actually reads pretty well.
I think the most valuable thought exercise here is reckoning with the 20th century. Starting with FDR, the US was the more liberal and progressive of the two sibling countries, and Canada the more conservative. And then (maybe around the 70s/80s?) that seems to have reversed itself. In some ways. Why?
I would have appreciated a bit more regionalism here. I feel like Canadian histories never discuss anything but Ontario and Quebec. And here, it basically becomes Ottawa and Washington and what were the relationships like between presidents and prime ministers. I would have liked a chapter on the Pacific region, another on the plains states/provinces, and another on New England and the Maritimes. It would be interesting to compare the histories of the Texas/Oklahoma oil conservatives, and the Alberta oil conservatives, for example, but Bothwell barely mentions this (I think, I was skimming). There are so many different facets to this border relationship that go beyond state dinners and federal trade negotiations.

[Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goodreads Win Copy

This tells of the history of Canada and the United States through time. It shows the effects of their own diverse relationship with Britain and France which shaped Canada as a nation and furthers the difference between them. History fans will enjoy a look back at different periods as it defines the prevailing attitudes at the time.

A showcase of how different two neighbours are despite their proximity and social medial influences.

[Johns · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative to read a history of both Canada and the USA when that history is written by a thoughtful Canadian. I didn't get all the Canadian history I wanted from this book but I did gain a better understanding of the Royalist loyalties from north of the border.

[Terri Wangard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Canada has traditionally been anti-American, according to Canadian author Robert Bothwell, but the tradition is ambiguous with inferiority and resentment mixed with appreciation and admiration for its southern neighbor. Both countries began with roots in England and developed alongside each other in much the same pattern. The primary difference is population; the U.S. has about ten times more people than Canada.

As part of the Commonwealth, Canada has kept close ties with Great Britain. Maintaining links to Britain kept Canada from being absorbed by the U.S. Throughout their history, the Canadians have seen the Americans as believing it was Canada’s destiny to join the U.S. They stress they are not Americans; they have a more liberal socialist traditional and are more European.

The book begins with the observation that Britain, France, Japan, and Israel are better known in the U.S. than Canada. Americans are vague about Canada, knowing only that it is where bad weather comes from, and as the home of the Blue Jays and hockey teams. Americans think of Canada positively, but they don’t think about it much.

Much of the book is quite interesting. Beginning with the settling of North America, a lot is brought out about England that isn’t covered in high school American history classes. Nor is Canada covered much, aside from common links.

The end of Your Country, My Country filters through the lens of Canadian anti-Americanism, stretching as far as America bashing. The Canadians look down on the U.S. as chaotic and warlike for Vietnam and Iraq.

A comment I keep returning to is, “Canadians are little accustomed to being unpopular in the U.S.” Maybe we don’t match their explosions of nationalism. I have wonderful Canadian friends, but have never forgotten the Canadian my family experienced in Florida many years ago. He could not stop bad-mouthing Americans and America. Why in the world didn’t he go home?

[Sam Parsons · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recieved this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love history, I love learning about our past and how we got to be where we are today. I loved history in school and --while it took me longer to read than I want to admit-- I loved this book.

The book, which presents the history of our countries, reads much smoother than a textbook and made the history more understandable.

Not only did I learn--possibly relearn-- a ton about our histories that I hadn't known before, but I feel like I've understood it better.

This book is a must read for all history (Canadian/American specialties for sure) nerds, and anyone who is weary, but wants to know more.

Definitely wish I could of had this in school.

[Carolyn Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Your Country, My Country: A Unified History of the United States and Canada, which will be published in September 2015, Robert Bothwell, the Gluskin Professor of Canadian History at the University of Toronto and author of The Penguin History of Canada and Canada and Quebec: One Country, Two Histories provides an accessible and engaging account of how Canada and the United States have related to one another since European settlement began in North America.

For full review, see http://www.royalhistorian.com/friday-...

[Angel Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am an American who is married to a Canadian. I am working on immigrating to Canada, so when I saw this book, I was interested in learning more about what I hope will one day be my adoptive country.

I learned some new things, and shared it with my husband, who learned some new things about his own country. It's a bit surprising to learn that Canada was essentially fighting it's own Revolution when we were.

We both learned many new things. I will be going through this book a bit more slowly soon. Also, my husband will be reading it, as he is very interested in history anyway. I would read this, and others by this author again.

[Bill M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this well written and informative. I had some difficulty with the emphasis in parts. In particular, there was barely a mention of the process of Confederation in Canada in 1867 and there was almost the same lack of attention to the constitutional process in the early 1980s.