In his earlier work, Skyscrapers Hide the Heavens, J.R. Miller explored the history of relations between whites and native peoples in Canada. Sweet Promises is a companion volume. It brings together the work of a number of scholars on a wide range of issues in Indian-white relations, and develops many of the themes identified in the earlier work.

The articles, all previously published, are concerned with developments in the various regions of Canada from the days of New France to the present. They deal with the early military alliances, relations at the time of the fur trade, civil Indian policy, treaties and reserves, the Northwest Rebellion, the impact of religion and agricultural and educational policies, the emergence of native political organization, differing attitudes towards the environment, and the struggle for aboriginal rights and contemporary land claims disputes. In a new introduction Miller provides an overview of the history of Indian- white relations over five centuries, and in the conclusion he draws together the themes discussed in the volume.