Two Eagles: The History of the United States and Mexico

by Ricardo Sheffield

In the middle of the Sonoran Desert, two eagles meet face to face. One has flown from the north, the other from the south. After a long journey, they confront each other in a vast territory that unites two great countries that, like the eagles, are not as different as they seem. Two hundred years after the beginning of diplomatic relations between Mexico and the United States, Ricardo Sheffield takes a look at the shared history of both nations. He considers questions such - What was life like for the Native Americans? - When did some decide to follow an unknown path south, leaving others to stay behind? - What unites the lives of Mexicans with those living in the United States of America? - What have been the moments of greatest tension between the two countries? With a distinctive voice full of irony, humor, and popular sayings, the author traces the history of these two great powers-from their common beginnings with the Clovis culture hunting mammoths to the civil wars of both countries, the promulgation of their respective constitutions, and their struggles to abolish slavery.

442 pages, Hardcover

Published April 19, 2023

Reviews

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two Eagles is an unusually imaginative and human-centered approach to the shared history of the United States and Mexico. Rather than presenting the relationship as a sequence of conflicts and treaties alone, Sheffield frames it as an evolving encounter between two cultures, two narratives, and two ways of understanding identity, power, and belonging.

The book’s great strength lies in its ability to move fluidly between grand historical forces and intimate human experience. By asking simple but profound questions, about migration, separation, cultural memory, and shared origins, the narrative brings warmth and moral texture to what might otherwise feel like distant geopolitical history.

Sheffield’s voice, infused with irony, humor, and popular wisdom, makes the book feel alive rather than academic. The tone invites readers in, encouraging reflection rather than lecturing, and allowing complex topics like colonization, slavery, nation-building, and border formation to unfold in a way that feels both accessible and thoughtful.

Ultimately, Two Eagles is not just a history of two nations, but a meditation on how intertwined identities form, clash, and evolve. It leaves readers with a deeper sense that the U.S. and Mexico are not opposing stories, but chapters of a shared human narrative still being written.