Some 10,000 alien plants and animals live in North America. While environmentalists almost universally decry the invasion of non-native species, Leland suggests that the stories of how these plants and animals have reshaped the landscape are as much a part of the continent's history as that of presidents and politics.

In a volume that is part natural history, part anecdote, and part ode to survival, Leland cuts through myths coloring our grasp of the natural world and suggests that the stories of how these plants and animals have reshaped our landscape are as much a part of the continent's history as that of our presidents and politics. At the same time Leland poses questions about what exactly, of all our accepted icons, is truly American. Not apple pie or Kentucky bluegrass; not Idaho potatoes or Boston ivy. With an engaging style and genuine appreciation for nature's resiliency, Leland forces us to rethink our understanding of what it means to be American. He reveals how plant and animal invaders have made the country as much an environmental melting pot as it is melding of peoples and cultures.