The book is divided into four sections: one for each biography and one to provide background context for the conflicts in Rwanda and Bosnia. There are also sections entitled Introduction, Conclusion, Acknowledgments, Source Notes, and Index. The three biographies of the Canadians focus on their involvement in international conflicts through the United Nations, but also includes aspects of their backgrounds and follow events after they leave the UN. In the profiles Off avoids describing places and events but provides a chapter to "a Grapes of Wrath-style description of her two locales". The biographies compare and contrast the strategy and effect of each person's approach to their mission. One reviewer compared the profiles of Dallaire and MacKenzie to Suetonius's biographies of Athenian generals Nicias and Alcibiades. Suetonius portrayed Nicias as honourable, moderate, and effective but over-shadowed by the more vocal and polarizing Alcibiades. Likewise, Off portrayed Dallaire as the more honourable commander but over-shadowed by the more media savvy and callous MacKenzie. Off's focus on moral choices was called "a feminist approach" by several members of the Department of National Defence.