PAPILLON

Condemned for a murder he had not committed, Henri Charriere (nicknamed Papillon) was sent to the penal colony of French Guiana. 42 days after his arrival he made his first break, travelling a thousand gruelling miles in an open boat. Recaptured, he suffered solitary confinement and was sent eventually to Devil's Island, a hellhole of disease and brutality. No one had ever escaped from this notorious prison - until Papillon took to the shark-infested sea supported only by a makeshift coconut-sack raft. In 13 years he made nine daring escapes, living through many fantastic adventures while on the run. He died in 1973 at the age of 66. An immediate sensation upon publication in 1969, Papillon is still one of the greatest adventure stories ever told, a true tale of courage, resilience and an unbreakable will. With an exclusive new essay by Howard Marks, 560pp in reprinted paperback.