Tested Mettle; Canada's Peacekeepers at War

The untold story of the Canadian Army's fight for survival on two fronts: the volatile bullet-riddled war zones of the world and the equally treacherous political battleground here at home.

Tested Mettle takes over where the controversial bestseller "Tarnished Brass" left off. "Esprit de Corps" magazine publisher, Scott Taylor, and veteran journalist, Brian Nolan, document the heroic story of Canada's UN peacekeepers serving in war-ravaged former Yugoslavia and around the world.

The authors recount the dangerous physical obstacles these soldiers face each day and the psychological torment they experience, leaving many of them scarred for life.

Readers will be shocked to learn of the deprivations and daily hardships faced by the troops, who frequently are sent to dangerous foreign fields with obsolete and outdated equipment. The top brass, meanwhile, has wasted hundreds of thousands of taxpayers' dollars on their own lavish farewell parties and personal aggrandizement. Taylor and Nolan also expose the workings of the elite and secretive Joint Task Force II, whose mysterious and Rambo-like assignments are known only to the highest orders of government and the high command.

Tested Mettle will leave Canadians proud of their courageous peacemakers and outraged by a corrupt Defence Department.

Scott Taylor, a former soldier, is the editor and publisher of Esprit de Corps, a monthly magazine celebrating Canada's military heritage. It is also reknowned for its unflinching scrutiny of the Canadian military. The ten years of research that he compiled for this book is firsthand: as a journalist, he has traveled to Bosnia, Croatia, Cambodia, the Western Sahara and the Persian Gulf to visit Canadian soldiers in theatres of operation.

Brian Nolan has enjoyed success as a newspaper, radio and television reporter, as well as a documentary filmmaker and TV news executive. He is also the author of several bestselling books on Canadian military issues.