What is so special about the “special relationship” and what are its historical foundations, its institutional and communicative structures and its problem-solving strategies? In order to answer this question, two crucial periods in the history of Anglo-American relations are analysed: The second half of the 19th century as the period of the emerging “special relationship” and the Cold War era as the period of the “special relationship” in action. The contributions to this volume contrast and complement historical research that is informed by approaches from cultural and intellectual history on the one hand and political and diplomatic history on the other. Contributors: Beatrice Heuser, Wolfgang Krieger, Ursula Lehmkuhl, Gottfried Niedhart, David Reynolds, Heide-Irene Schmidt, Gustav Schmidt, Stefanie Schneider, Frank Schumacher.