War Torn: Adventures in the Brave New Canada is travel literature woven with threads of political commentary. Troy Parfitt travels through every Canadian province and territory in a bid to reconnect with his estranged homeland. However, the connection appears to be broken as the author is bothered by poverty, a scandal-ridden and increasingly autocratic government, and quiet complicity about his country's involvement in The War in Afghanistan. Parfitt touches on numerous themes, from Canadian literature, to the nation's obsession with hockey, to descriptions of Newfoundland, British Columbia, and Nunavut. There is plenty of humour (there'd have to be), but the tie that binds is criticism of Canada's shift to the right and the state manufactured belief that bettering citizens' lives comes after fulfilling military contracts and waging war. Readers looking to find out how democratic, friendly, and socialist Canada is should refer to fiction.