Mad, Bad and Dangerous - The Book of Drummers' Tales

Mad, Bad and Dangerous - The Book of Drummers' Tales

Author: Spike Webb

Publisher: Kings Road Publishing

Published: 2010-07-26

Total Pages: 202

ISBN-13: 1857829972

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Never have so many famous drummers been gathered together in one place! Drummer and writer Spike Webb has spent more than three years meeting fellow drummers in bars, clubs and cafes, shooting the breeze for a couple of hours and extracting anecdote after anecdote for posterity. This is truly a labour of love - and somebody had to do it. In this book you'll meet drummers like Nick Mason (Pink Floyd), Don Powell (Slade), Adam Facek (Babyshambles), Steve White (Paul Weller), Topper Headon (The Clash), Woody (Madness) and world-class session players like Toto's drummer Simon Phillips. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes poignant but always entertaining, it's the ultimate insight into what it really means to be a drummer and an explanation, at last, for what really makes someone do a 20-minute solo. You'll be asking for an encore!


Book Synopsis Mad, Bad and Dangerous - The Book of Drummers' Tales by : Spike Webb

Download or read book Mad, Bad and Dangerous - The Book of Drummers' Tales written by Spike Webb and published by Kings Road Publishing. This book was released on 2010-07-26 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Never have so many famous drummers been gathered together in one place! Drummer and writer Spike Webb has spent more than three years meeting fellow drummers in bars, clubs and cafes, shooting the breeze for a couple of hours and extracting anecdote after anecdote for posterity. This is truly a labour of love - and somebody had to do it. In this book you'll meet drummers like Nick Mason (Pink Floyd), Don Powell (Slade), Adam Facek (Babyshambles), Steve White (Paul Weller), Topper Headon (The Clash), Woody (Madness) and world-class session players like Toto's drummer Simon Phillips. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes poignant but always entertaining, it's the ultimate insight into what it really means to be a drummer and an explanation, at last, for what really makes someone do a 20-minute solo. You'll be asking for an encore!

Sympathy for the Drummer

Sympathy for the Drummer

Author: Mike Edison

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2019-11-05

Total Pages: 227

ISBN-13: 1493050699

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Sympathy for the Drummer: Why Charlie Watts Matters is both a gonzo rush—capturing the bristling energy of the Rolling Stones and the times in which they lived—and a wide-eyed reflection on why the Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band in the World needed the world's greatest rock 'n' roll drummer. Across five decades, Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts has had the best seat in the house. Charlie Watts, the anti-rock star—an urbane jazz fan with a dry wit and little taste for the limelight—was witness to the most savage years in rock history, and emerged a hero, a warrior poet. With his easy swing and often loping, uneven fills, he found nuance in a music that often had little room for it, and along with his greatest ally, Keith Richards, he gave the Stones their swaggering beat. While others battled their drums, Charlie played his modest kit with finesse and humility, and yet his relentless grooves on the nastiest hard-rock numbers of the era ("Gimme Shelter," "Street Fighting Man," "Brown Sugar," "Jumpin' Jack Flash," etc.) delivered a dangerous authenticity to a band that on their best nights should have been put in jail. Author Mike Edison, himself a notorious raconteur and accomplished drummer, tells a tale of respect and satisfaction that goes far beyond drums, drumming, and the Rolling Stones, ripping apart the history of rock'n'roll, and celebrating sixty years of cultural upheaval. He tears the sheets off of the myths of music making, shredding the phonies and the frauds, and unifies the frayed edges of disco, punk, blues, country, soul, jazz, and R&B—the soundtrack of our lives. Highly opinionated, fearless, and often hilarious, Sympathy is an unexpected treat for music fans and pop culture mavens, as edgy and ribald as the Rolling Stones at their finest, never losing sight of the sex and magic that puts the roll in the rock —the beat, that crazy beat!—and the man who drove the band, their true engine, the utterly irreplaceable Charlie Watts.


Book Synopsis Sympathy for the Drummer by : Mike Edison

Download or read book Sympathy for the Drummer written by Mike Edison and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2019-11-05 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sympathy for the Drummer: Why Charlie Watts Matters is both a gonzo rush—capturing the bristling energy of the Rolling Stones and the times in which they lived—and a wide-eyed reflection on why the Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band in the World needed the world's greatest rock 'n' roll drummer. Across five decades, Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts has had the best seat in the house. Charlie Watts, the anti-rock star—an urbane jazz fan with a dry wit and little taste for the limelight—was witness to the most savage years in rock history, and emerged a hero, a warrior poet. With his easy swing and often loping, uneven fills, he found nuance in a music that often had little room for it, and along with his greatest ally, Keith Richards, he gave the Stones their swaggering beat. While others battled their drums, Charlie played his modest kit with finesse and humility, and yet his relentless grooves on the nastiest hard-rock numbers of the era ("Gimme Shelter," "Street Fighting Man," "Brown Sugar," "Jumpin' Jack Flash," etc.) delivered a dangerous authenticity to a band that on their best nights should have been put in jail. Author Mike Edison, himself a notorious raconteur and accomplished drummer, tells a tale of respect and satisfaction that goes far beyond drums, drumming, and the Rolling Stones, ripping apart the history of rock'n'roll, and celebrating sixty years of cultural upheaval. He tears the sheets off of the myths of music making, shredding the phonies and the frauds, and unifies the frayed edges of disco, punk, blues, country, soul, jazz, and R&B—the soundtrack of our lives. Highly opinionated, fearless, and often hilarious, Sympathy is an unexpected treat for music fans and pop culture mavens, as edgy and ribald as the Rolling Stones at their finest, never losing sight of the sex and magic that puts the roll in the rock —the beat, that crazy beat!—and the man who drove the band, their true engine, the utterly irreplaceable Charlie Watts.

Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie

Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie

Author: Jordan Sonnenblick

Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

Published: 2010-01-01

Total Pages: 165

ISBN-13: 0545231167

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A brave and beautiful story that will make readers laugh, and break their hearts at the same time. Now with a special note from the author! Steven has a totally normal life (well, almost).He plays drums in the All-City Jazz Band (whose members call him the Peasant), has a crush on the hottest girl in school (who doesn't even know he's alive), and is constantly annoyed by his younger brother, Jeffrey (who is cuter than cute - which is also pretty annoying). But when Jeffrey gets sick, Steven's world is turned upside down, and he is forced to deal with his brother's illness, his parents' attempts to keep the family in one piece, his homework, the band, girls, and Dangerous Pie (yes, you'll have to read the book to find out what that is!).


Book Synopsis Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by : Jordan Sonnenblick

Download or read book Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie written by Jordan Sonnenblick and published by Scholastic Inc.. This book was released on 2010-01-01 with total page 165 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A brave and beautiful story that will make readers laugh, and break their hearts at the same time. Now with a special note from the author! Steven has a totally normal life (well, almost).He plays drums in the All-City Jazz Band (whose members call him the Peasant), has a crush on the hottest girl in school (who doesn't even know he's alive), and is constantly annoyed by his younger brother, Jeffrey (who is cuter than cute - which is also pretty annoying). But when Jeffrey gets sick, Steven's world is turned upside down, and he is forced to deal with his brother's illness, his parents' attempts to keep the family in one piece, his homework, the band, girls, and Dangerous Pie (yes, you'll have to read the book to find out what that is!).

A Great and Terrible Beauty

A Great and Terrible Beauty

Author: Libba Bray

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2010-05-01

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 0731814908

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It's 1895, and after the death of her mother, 16-year-old Gemma Doyle is shipped off from the life she knows in India to Spence, a proper boarding school in England. Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma's reception there is a chilly one. To make things worse, she's being followed by a mysterious young Indian man, a man sent to watch her. But why? What is her destiny? And what will her entanglement with Spence's most powerful girls - and their foray into the spiritual world - lead to?


Book Synopsis A Great and Terrible Beauty by : Libba Bray

Download or read book A Great and Terrible Beauty written by Libba Bray and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2010-05-01 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It's 1895, and after the death of her mother, 16-year-old Gemma Doyle is shipped off from the life she knows in India to Spence, a proper boarding school in England. Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma's reception there is a chilly one. To make things worse, she's being followed by a mysterious young Indian man, a man sent to watch her. But why? What is her destiny? And what will her entanglement with Spence's most powerful girls - and their foray into the spiritual world - lead to?

Thoughtless

Thoughtless

Author: S.C. Stephens

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2012-09-21

Total Pages: 541

ISBN-13: 1471126013

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For almost two years now, Kiera's boyfriend, Denny, has been everything she's ever wanted: loving, tender, and endlessly devoted to her. When they head off to a new city to start their lives together, Denny at his dream job and Kiera at a top-notch university, everything seems perfect. Then an unforeseen obligation forces the happy couple apart. Feeling lonely, confused, and in need of comfort, Kiera turns to an unexpected source - a local rock star named Kellan Kyle. At first, he's purely a friend that she can lean on, but as her loneliness grows, so does their relationship. And then one night everything changes . . . and one thing's for sure - nothing will ever be the same.


Book Synopsis Thoughtless by : S.C. Stephens

Download or read book Thoughtless written by S.C. Stephens and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-09-21 with total page 541 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For almost two years now, Kiera's boyfriend, Denny, has been everything she's ever wanted: loving, tender, and endlessly devoted to her. When they head off to a new city to start their lives together, Denny at his dream job and Kiera at a top-notch university, everything seems perfect. Then an unforeseen obligation forces the happy couple apart. Feeling lonely, confused, and in need of comfort, Kiera turns to an unexpected source - a local rock star named Kellan Kyle. At first, he's purely a friend that she can lean on, but as her loneliness grows, so does their relationship. And then one night everything changes . . . and one thing's for sure - nothing will ever be the same.

Homeland

Homeland

Author: Cory Doctorow

Publisher: Tor Teen

Published: 2013-02-05

Total Pages: 398

ISBN-13: 1466805870

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In Cory Doctorow's wildly successful Little Brother, young Marcus Yallow was arbitrarily detained and brutalized by the government in the wake of a terrorist attack on San Francisco—an experience that led him to become a leader of the whole movement of technologically clued-in teenagers, fighting back against the tyrannical security state. A few years later, California's economy collapses, but Marcus's hacktivist past lands him a job as webmaster for a crusading politician who promises reform. Soon his former nemesis Masha emerges from the political underground to gift him with a thumbdrive containing a Wikileaks-style cable-dump of hard evidence of corporate and governmental perfidy. It's incendiary stuff—and if Masha goes missing, Marcus is supposed to release it to the world. Then Marcus sees Masha being kidnapped by the same government agents who detained and tortured Marcus years earlier. Marcus can leak the archive Masha gave him—but he can't admit to being the leaker, because that will cost his employer the election. He's surrounded by friends who remember what he did a few years ago and regard him as a hacker hero. He can't even attend a demonstration without being dragged onstage and handed a mike. He's not at all sure that just dumping the archive onto the Internet, before he's gone through its millions of words, is the right thing to do. Meanwhile, people are beginning to shadow him, people who look like they're used to inflicting pain until they get the answers they want. Fast-moving, passionate, and as current as next week, Homeland is every bit the equal of Little Brother—a paean to activism, to courage, to the drive to make the world a better place. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.


Book Synopsis Homeland by : Cory Doctorow

Download or read book Homeland written by Cory Doctorow and published by Tor Teen. This book was released on 2013-02-05 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Cory Doctorow's wildly successful Little Brother, young Marcus Yallow was arbitrarily detained and brutalized by the government in the wake of a terrorist attack on San Francisco—an experience that led him to become a leader of the whole movement of technologically clued-in teenagers, fighting back against the tyrannical security state. A few years later, California's economy collapses, but Marcus's hacktivist past lands him a job as webmaster for a crusading politician who promises reform. Soon his former nemesis Masha emerges from the political underground to gift him with a thumbdrive containing a Wikileaks-style cable-dump of hard evidence of corporate and governmental perfidy. It's incendiary stuff—and if Masha goes missing, Marcus is supposed to release it to the world. Then Marcus sees Masha being kidnapped by the same government agents who detained and tortured Marcus years earlier. Marcus can leak the archive Masha gave him—but he can't admit to being the leaker, because that will cost his employer the election. He's surrounded by friends who remember what he did a few years ago and regard him as a hacker hero. He can't even attend a demonstration without being dragged onstage and handed a mike. He's not at all sure that just dumping the archive onto the Internet, before he's gone through its millions of words, is the right thing to do. Meanwhile, people are beginning to shadow him, people who look like they're used to inflicting pain until they get the answers they want. Fast-moving, passionate, and as current as next week, Homeland is every bit the equal of Little Brother—a paean to activism, to courage, to the drive to make the world a better place. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

SlipKnoT: ALL HOPE IS GONE

SlipKnoT: ALL HOPE IS GONE

Author: Joel McIver

Publisher: Omnibus Press

Published: 2012-03-07

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13: 0857127721

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With no fewer than nine members and a unique stage image based on grotesque masks and boiler suits, Slipknot retained a mystique that was unprecedented in the metal world, never allowing their faces to become known – so that the focus would remain on their music. The first edition of this book published in 2001 followed the band from their inception in Des Moines, Iowa in the mid-1990s through to the release of their second album: an updated edition followed in 2003. It’s now a decade since the first volume appeared, and in that time Slipknot have evolved into a completely different band from the one that first emerged into the limelight in 1999. Everyone knows their faces now. The band’s music is darker, deeper and more adult after four studio albums, three DVDs and a live release. Most strikingly, the sudden death of their bass player Paul Gray in 2010 has changed the face and the attitude of the group, although their commercial profile is, if anything, greater than it was before. Slipknot: All Hope Is Gone explores this unlikely and tragic evolution, with new chapters covering the band’s career to date – and it also asks what their future will be.


Book Synopsis SlipKnoT: ALL HOPE IS GONE by : Joel McIver

Download or read book SlipKnoT: ALL HOPE IS GONE written by Joel McIver and published by Omnibus Press. This book was released on 2012-03-07 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With no fewer than nine members and a unique stage image based on grotesque masks and boiler suits, Slipknot retained a mystique that was unprecedented in the metal world, never allowing their faces to become known – so that the focus would remain on their music. The first edition of this book published in 2001 followed the band from their inception in Des Moines, Iowa in the mid-1990s through to the release of their second album: an updated edition followed in 2003. It’s now a decade since the first volume appeared, and in that time Slipknot have evolved into a completely different band from the one that first emerged into the limelight in 1999. Everyone knows their faces now. The band’s music is darker, deeper and more adult after four studio albums, three DVDs and a live release. Most strikingly, the sudden death of their bass player Paul Gray in 2010 has changed the face and the attitude of the group, although their commercial profile is, if anything, greater than it was before. Slipknot: All Hope Is Gone explores this unlikely and tragic evolution, with new chapters covering the band’s career to date – and it also asks what their future will be.

Touching Spirit Bear

Touching Spirit Bear

Author: Ben Mikaelsen

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 2010-04-20

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 0062009680

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In his Nautilus Award-winning classic Touching Spirit Bear, author Ben Mikaelson delivers a powerful coming-of-age story of a boy who must overcome the effects that violence has had on his life. After severely injuring Peter Driscal in an empty parking lot, mischief-maker Cole Matthews is in major trouble. But instead of jail time, Cole is given another option: attend Circle Justice, an alternative program that sends juvenile offenders to a remote Alaskan Island to focus on changing their ways. Desperate to avoid prison, Cole fakes humility and agrees to go. While there, Cole is mauled by a mysterious white bear and left for dead. Thoughts of his abusive parents, helpless Peter, and his own anger cause him to examine his actions and seek redemption—from the spirit bear that attacked him, from his victims, and, most importantly, from himself. Ben Mikaelsen paints a vivid picture of a juvenile offender, examining the roots of his anger without absolving him of responsibility for his actions, and questioning a society in which angry people make victims of their peers and communities. Touching Spirit Bear is a poignant testimonial to the power of a pain that can destroy, or lead to healing. A strong choice for independent reading, sharing in the classroom, homeschooling, and book groups.


Book Synopsis Touching Spirit Bear by : Ben Mikaelsen

Download or read book Touching Spirit Bear written by Ben Mikaelsen and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2010-04-20 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In his Nautilus Award-winning classic Touching Spirit Bear, author Ben Mikaelson delivers a powerful coming-of-age story of a boy who must overcome the effects that violence has had on his life. After severely injuring Peter Driscal in an empty parking lot, mischief-maker Cole Matthews is in major trouble. But instead of jail time, Cole is given another option: attend Circle Justice, an alternative program that sends juvenile offenders to a remote Alaskan Island to focus on changing their ways. Desperate to avoid prison, Cole fakes humility and agrees to go. While there, Cole is mauled by a mysterious white bear and left for dead. Thoughts of his abusive parents, helpless Peter, and his own anger cause him to examine his actions and seek redemption—from the spirit bear that attacked him, from his victims, and, most importantly, from himself. Ben Mikaelsen paints a vivid picture of a juvenile offender, examining the roots of his anger without absolving him of responsibility for his actions, and questioning a society in which angry people make victims of their peers and communities. Touching Spirit Bear is a poignant testimonial to the power of a pain that can destroy, or lead to healing. A strong choice for independent reading, sharing in the classroom, homeschooling, and book groups.

Raising Hell

Raising Hell

Author: Jon Wiederhorn

Publisher: Diversion Books

Published: 2020-01-07

Total Pages: 540

ISBN-13: 1635766486

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From the author of the celebrated classic Louder Than Hell comes an oral history of the badass Heavy Metal lifestyle—the debauchery, demolition, and headbanging dedication—featuring metalhead musicians from Black Sabbath and Judas Priest to Twisted Sister and Quiet Riot to Disturbed, Megadeth, Throwdown and more. In his song “You Can’t Kill Rock and Roll” Ozzy Osbourne sings, “Rock and roll is my religion and my law.” This is the mantra of the metal legends who populate Raising Hell—artists from Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Slipknot, Slayer, and Lamb of God to Twisted Sister, Quiet Riot, Disturbed, Megadeth, and many more! It’s also the guiding principle for underground voices like Misery Index, Gorgoroth, Municipal Waste, and Throwdown. Through the decades, the metal scene has been populated by colorful individuals who have thwarted convention and lived by their own rules. For many, vice has been virtue, and the opportunity to record albums and tour has been an invitation to push boundaries and blow the lid off a Pandora’s box of riotous experiences: thievery, vandalism, hedonism, the occult, stage mishaps, mosh pit atrocities, and general insanity. To the figures in this book, metal is a means of banding together to stick a big middle finger to a society that had already decided they didn’t belong. Whether they were oddballs who didn’t fit in or angry kids from troubled backgrounds, metal gave them a sense of identity. Drawing from 150-plus first-hand interviews with vocalists, guitarists, bassists, keyboardists, and drummers, music journalist Jon Wiederhorn offers this collection of wild shenanigans from metal’s heaviest and most iconic acts—the parties, the tours, the mosh pits, the rage, the joy, the sex, the drugs . . . the heavy metal life! Horns up!


Book Synopsis Raising Hell by : Jon Wiederhorn

Download or read book Raising Hell written by Jon Wiederhorn and published by Diversion Books. This book was released on 2020-01-07 with total page 540 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the author of the celebrated classic Louder Than Hell comes an oral history of the badass Heavy Metal lifestyle—the debauchery, demolition, and headbanging dedication—featuring metalhead musicians from Black Sabbath and Judas Priest to Twisted Sister and Quiet Riot to Disturbed, Megadeth, Throwdown and more. In his song “You Can’t Kill Rock and Roll” Ozzy Osbourne sings, “Rock and roll is my religion and my law.” This is the mantra of the metal legends who populate Raising Hell—artists from Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Slipknot, Slayer, and Lamb of God to Twisted Sister, Quiet Riot, Disturbed, Megadeth, and many more! It’s also the guiding principle for underground voices like Misery Index, Gorgoroth, Municipal Waste, and Throwdown. Through the decades, the metal scene has been populated by colorful individuals who have thwarted convention and lived by their own rules. For many, vice has been virtue, and the opportunity to record albums and tour has been an invitation to push boundaries and blow the lid off a Pandora’s box of riotous experiences: thievery, vandalism, hedonism, the occult, stage mishaps, mosh pit atrocities, and general insanity. To the figures in this book, metal is a means of banding together to stick a big middle finger to a society that had already decided they didn’t belong. Whether they were oddballs who didn’t fit in or angry kids from troubled backgrounds, metal gave them a sense of identity. Drawing from 150-plus first-hand interviews with vocalists, guitarists, bassists, keyboardists, and drummers, music journalist Jon Wiederhorn offers this collection of wild shenanigans from metal’s heaviest and most iconic acts—the parties, the tours, the mosh pits, the rage, the joy, the sex, the drugs . . . the heavy metal life! Horns up!

A Long Way Gone

A Long Way Gone

Author: Ishmael Beah

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2007-02-13

Total Pages: 238

ISBN-13: 0374105235

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My new friends have begun to suspect I haven’t told them the full story of my life. “Why did you leave Sierra Leone?” “Because there is a war.” “You mean, you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other?” “Yes, all the time.” “Cool.” I smile a little. “You should tell us about it sometime.” “Yes, sometime.” This is how wars are fought now: by children, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s. Children have become soldiers of choice. In the more than fifty conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them. 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 struggled to imagine their lives. But until now, there has not been a first-person account from someone who came through this hell and survived. In A Long Way Gone, Beah, now twenty-five years old, tells a riveting story: how at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he’d been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. This is a rare and mesmerizing account, told with real literary force and heartbreaking honesty.


Book Synopsis A Long Way Gone by : Ishmael Beah

Download or read book A Long Way Gone written by Ishmael Beah and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2007-02-13 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: My new friends have begun to suspect I haven’t told them the full story of my life. “Why did you leave Sierra Leone?” “Because there is a war.” “You mean, you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other?” “Yes, all the time.” “Cool.” I smile a little. “You should tell us about it sometime.” “Yes, sometime.” This is how wars are fought now: by children, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s. Children have become soldiers of choice. In the more than fifty conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them. 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 struggled to imagine their lives. But until now, there has not been a first-person account from someone who came through this hell and survived. In A Long Way Gone, Beah, now twenty-five years old, tells a riveting story: how at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he’d been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. This is a rare and mesmerizing account, told with real literary force and heartbreaking honesty.