The introduction provides an overview of the book and explains what the book adds to the literature on the COVID-19 pandemic. It describes the cross-national surveys used for the analyses and the types of questions that are asked in the book. We also explain why the United States and Finland were selected as our comparative cases and detail how this comparison provides a valuable lens for understanding the pandemic. Both nations are liberal democracies with highly developed economies, both score high in terms of compliance with the rule of law, both constitutionally guarantee freedom of speech and a free press, and both share similar cultural factors such has high levels of secularism, self-expression, happiness, social capital, and individualism. Both nations also have well-developed healthcare systems, and both nations were in similar economic positions that positioned them well to pivot to an online economy. Despite these similarities, the nations differ dramatically in size and position in the world system. They also differ with respect to their welfare systems and political systems. Finns also trust their government more than Americans trust theirs, and Finns have historically supported an interventionist state while Americans have always been anti-statism. Finally, another cross-national difference that likely influenced how people perceived the pandemic is the relative levels of security in each nation. With its more generous welfare system, Finns would be more confident about successfully navigating the pandemic than would Americans. The chapter ends with a brief description of how each substantive chapter is outlined.