This is an incredible story told by a young man who as a boy of 13 was separated from his family during a rebel raid on his village in central Sierra Leone and fled the conflict for hundred of miles with a few friends to what they thought to be the safety of a national Army camp, only to be given an option: join our ranks or face the consequences – the wrath of the rebels who were just over the next ridge.

Young Ishmael, an educated lad whose greatest pleasure before the war was reading Shakespeare and listening to American rap music, spent approximately three horrific years as a boy soldier fighting the rebels (RUF or Revolutionary United Front). He describes in detail how he became addicted to drugs and to violence – some of the things in which he (eventually) willing participated will bring shivers to the spines of most of those who choose to read the book.

He was eventually rescued from military service by UNICEF personnel. He then struggled to regain his humanity at a rehabilitation centre in Freetown; re-entering civilian life was not easy, since many in Sierra Leone viewed him and other former combatants with fear and suspicion. In 1996 he was selected to represent the youth of his country at the United Nations ‘Young Voices’ Conference. The book goes on to describe the atrocities when rebel forces overran Freetown and the young author’s escape into neighbouring Guinea. He eventually made his way back to New York, but this journey was not described in the book.

This is a mesmerising tale, told with literary force and heartbreaking honesty.