Allan Gotlieb’s Washington Diaries isn’t a page-turner, but it is an exhaustively detailed, day-by-day account of the tenure of one of the most influential and memorable Canadian ambassadors to the United States. The accounts of Gotlieb’s many meetings, the discussions between U.S. and Canadian politicians that he sat in on, and the carefully worded correspondence sent back and forth on any number of issues provide an informative look at the occasionally uneasy relationship between the two countries.

Gotlieb’s long stint in Washington will give readers (and historians, who will get the most out of this book) a chance to compare two distinct approaches: Pierre Trudeau’s icy relations with Ronald Reagan, whose more ideologically driven associates seemed to think he was dangerous and a socialist, and Brian Mulroney’s famously warm rapport with the same president. Gotlieb’s behind-the-scenes account seems to suggest that it wasn’t necessarily any easier for Mulroney to get the Reagan administration and other politicians in Washington to see his side of key issues such as acid rain and free trade simply because he and Reagan were pals.

Beyond all of the policy, there are some light moments in Gotlieb’s diaries – not unexpected given that the Rhodes Scholar occasionally unwinds after a tough day by watching Benny Hill. The most memorable moment comes during a 1983 summit with Reagan. Trudeau, whose sense of humour tended toward the withering putdown, broke the ice by telling a Newfie joke. (The punchline: “Do I have to pay the ten-thousand dollars before I sleep with the gorilla or can I wait until after?”)

Gotlieb’s wife, Sondra, is a key figure in his diaries and his tenure in Washington. Her Washington Post columns about life as the wife of a foreign diplomat helped make the couple the toast of the town – at least until she slapped one of the help. The incident made international headlines, but doesn’t account for much more than a couple of pages in this book. Most of the references to the slap occur when Gotlieb notes that someone, usually a powerful someone, has offered their support.

In fact, the amount of namedropping in this book is staggering. The Gotliebs had a busy social life, filled with engagements with some of the most influential people in 1980s Washington, such as Washington Post publisher Katherine Graham (Allan calls her “Kay,” and eventually the Gotliebs stay at her Cape Cod summer home) and Mike Deaver, who was one of a troika of top advisers to Reagan. There are so many names dropped that almost every page has footnotes explaining who all of them are. As a result, this is quite likely the first book where Zbigniew Brzezinski, Edmund Muskie, and Burt Reynolds are the subject of footnotes on the same page.