A Long Way Gone - Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

A Long Way Gone tells how, at the age of 12 years old, Ishmael Beah fled attacking rebels in his home country of Sierra Leone and wandered a land rendered unrecognisable by violence. At 13, he was picked up by the government army, and a gentle-hearted boy was forced to kill in the battles. At 26 and having moved to New York, the author wrote these riveting and heart-rending memoirs describing life as a child soldier, his journey through Sierra Leone, and how he survived. In a world with more than 50 conflicts, it is estimated there are some 300,000 child soldiers. What is war like through the eyes of a child soldier? How does one become a killer? How does one stop? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have tried to imagine their lives, but until now, there has not been a first-hand account from someone who came through this hell and survived.