Henri Charriere · 1969 · survival

Henri Charrière's 1969 memoir. Convicted of a murder he denies, the safecracker 'Papillon' is shipped from France to the penal colonies of French Guiana, where he spends years in brutal captivity and mounts escape after audacious escape - through the jungle, to Colombia, into solitary on Devil's Island - until a raft of coconut sacks finally carries him to freedom in Venezuela.

1. 1
   Paris

   In 1931 the safecracker known as Papillon is convicted of a murder he insists he did not commit and sentenced to life at hard labour.

2. 2
   Saint-Martin-de-Re

   Held in the island citadel off the French coast, he is loaded aboard the convict ship La Martiniere for the crossing.

3. 3
   Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni

   The gateway to the bagne on the Maroni River, where within weeks Papillon makes his first break by boat.

4. 4
   Colombia

   After a punishing voyage he reaches Colombia and lives free among the Guajira pearl-divers, until he is caught and returned.

5. 5
   Devil's Island

   Shipped to the Iles du Salut and the escape-proof Devil's Island, he studies the waves for years.

6. 6
   Venezuela

   He hurls himself off the cliff on a raft of coconut sacks and rides the tide to the mainland and, at last, freedom.