description: Henri Charrière, called "Papillon," for the butterfly tattoo on his chest, was convicted in Paris in 1931 of a murder he did not commit. Sentenced to life imprisonment in the penal colony of French Guiana, he became obsessed with one escape . After planning and executing a series of treacherous yet failed attempts over many years, he was eventually sent to the notorious prison, Devil's Island, a place from which no one had ever escaped . . . until Papillon. His flight to freedom remains one of the most incredible feats of human cunning, will, and endurance ever undertaken. Charrière's astonishing autobiography, Papillon , was published in France to instant acclaim in 1968, more than twenty years after his final escape. Since then, it has become a treasured classic — the gripping, shocking, ultimately uplifting odyssey of an innocent man who would not be defeated.
language: English
title: Papillon
titlecomplete: Papillon
genres: Crime, History, Classics, Adventure, Memoir, Biography, Autobiography, France, Biography Memoir, Nonfiction
ratings_count: 68170
places: Devil's Island, Paris, France, French Guiana
series: Papillon
publisher: Pocket