[2] The book is an account of a 14-year period in Papillon's life (October 26, 1931, to October 18, 1945), beginning when he was wrongly convicted of murder in France and sentenced to a life of hard labor at the Bagne de Cayenne, the penal colony of Cayenne in French Guiana known as Devil's Island.

In Trinidad the trio were joined by three other escapees; they were aided by a British family, the Dutch bishop of Curaçao, and several others.

As punishment, Papillon was sentenced to two years of solitary confinement on Île Saint-Joseph (an island in the Îles du Salut group, 11 kilometers (7 miles) from the French Guiana coast).

His original sentence of eight years was reduced after Papillon risked his life to save a girl caught in shark-infested waters.

After French Guiana officials decided to support the pro-Nazi Vichy Regime, the penalty for escape attempts was death, or capital punishment.

Insane prisoners could not be sentenced to death for any reason, and the asylum was not as heavily guarded as Devil's Island.

Papillon returned to the regular prisoner population on Royal Island after being "cured" of his mental illness.

Papillon studied the waters and discovered possibilities at a rocky inlet surrounded by a high cliff.

He noticed that every seventh wave was large enough to carry a floating object far enough out into the sea that it would drift toward the mainland.

He had sailed in southeast Asia, where he was known to raid ships, killing everyone aboard for their money and goods.

After days of drifting under the relentless sun, surviving on coconut pulp, they made landfall at the mainland.

Reaching Venezuela, the men were captured and imprisoned at mobile detention camps in the vicinity of El Dorado, a small mining town near the Gran Sabana region.

[citation needed] Papillon has been described as "The greatest adventure story of all time" (Auguste Le Breton) and "A modern classic of courage and excitement" (Janet Flanner, The New Yorker).