Papillon

A classic memoir of prison breaks and adventure - a bestselling phenomenon of the 1960s Condemned for a murder he had not committed, Henri Charriere (nicknamed Papillon) was sent to the penal colony of French Guiana. Forty-two days after his arrival he made his first break, travelling a thousand gruelling miles in an open boat. Recaptured, he went into solitary confinement and was sent eventually to Devil's Island, a hell-hole of disease and brutality.

No one had ever escaped from this notorious prison - no one until Papillon took to the shark-infested sea supported only by a makeshift coconut-sack raft. In thirteen years he made nine daring escapes, living through many fantastic adventures while on the run - including a sojourn with South American Indians whose women Papillon found welcomely free of European restraints!

Papillon is filled with tension, adventure and high excitement. It is also one of the most vivid stories of human endurance ever written.

About the Author

In 1931, 25-year-old Henri Charriere was found guilty of a murder he had not committed and transported to a penal colony in French Guiana. His numerous daring escapes and subsequent adventures are recounted in Papillon and Banco : The Further Adventures of Papillon. He died in 1973 at the age of 66.