I saw Les Misérables after Xmas, and had read Papillon (many times) in high school, and I just started wondering about the French prison system…and found this book, which I ordered through Link+ (computerized free interlibrary loan, it rocks). Which pretty much answered all my questions. Plus it was well-written (translated), amusing in many places, a good read.
The cover image is obviously from some reprint- the original book is from 1960, and the copy I read had a cloth binding. It was, of course, from a university.
Otter Be Reading 