Memoirist Ishmael Beah, author of the bestselling A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, is the most recent writer under scrutiny for alleged inaccuracies in his story, which has sold nearly 700,000 copies. Beah’s memoir tells the story of his separation from his family during Sierra Leone’s civil war in the 1990s. Beah spent months as a homeless twelve-year-old driven from his home cities before being forced to fight for the government. During those years, Beah describes a period of violence and drug-use, raising eyebrows at his ability later to recall with accuracy the details of his preteen years. In early 1996, UNICEF rescued Beah, who, in 1998, emigrated to the United States and went  on to graduate from Oberlin College. He is now a spokesperson for human rights, and he was appointed UNICEF’s Advocate for Children Affected by War. Though no one is contesting the truthfulness of his horrific childhood, the controversy surrounds a timeline that some believe would “affect the balance of a book praised as an unprecedented narrative of a child turned soldier,” according to the Associated Press.

In a New York Times article regarding the dispute, writer William Boyd addressed the controversy, stating, “Indeed, Beah’s time in the army, and the accounts of the patrols and firefights he was caught up in, represent only a small portion of this book. And who can blame him? The blood-lust of a drug-crazed adolescent on the rampage with an assault rifle would challenge the descriptive powers of James Joyce.”

The duration of Beah’s military surface and related details will likely remain a matter of conflict, as records of Beah’s whereabouts during the period, including his school records, were destroyed during the civil war. Beah has confirmed with the Associated Press that he will “stand by” his memoir, and has addressed the allegations via cell phone, stating, “I have tried to think deeply about this…and my memory only gives me 1993 and nothing more. And that’s what I stand by.”

It is not uncommon for memoirs to include disclaimers as legal safeguards, especially in recent years, stating that names, dates, and events may have been changed or altered. Beah chose not to include a disclaimer in his memoir, acknowledging that no research went into the book, and no written records, including journals, were available to him during his writing. Beah claims to have written the memoir based entirely on memory, explaining, “I wanted to write about how I felt about war.”