This memoir by Ivan P. Iuvachëv, a cofounder of the People's Will, details his time as a political exile in the Sakhalin penal colony from 1887 to 1895. Iuvachëv experienced one of the penal colony's most tumultuous periods. His vivid descriptions make this both a work of literature and a valuable historical document.

Andrew A. Gentes is an historian and translator. His publications and translations include The Mass Deportation of Poles to Siberia, 1863-1880 ( 2017) and In the World of the Outcasts: Notes of a Former Penal Laborer (2014).

Acknowledgements; Introduction, Andrew A. Gentes; A Note on Transliteration and Dates; Glossary of Measurements; Eight Years on Sakhalin: A Political Prisoner's Memoir, Ivan P. Iuvachëv; Foreword; Part I; I. First impressions of the Sakhalin coast; II. Searching for food; III. Dinner; IV. Meeting the educated exiles; V. The penal laborers' march to Tymovsk District; VI. Rykovsk settlement; VII. Assignment as a carpenter; VIII. My comrades; IX. The situation in the Tym Valley; X. The warden's efforts to build a church; XI. Katorga assignments; XII. The difficulty of katorga; XIII. Headmen-executioners; Part II; I. A new assignment; II. A change of situation; III. Preparing the new church for Easter; IV. The temptation of an artless existence; V. Recording Giliak fables; VI. Solitary and general prison confinement; VII. The murder of choirmaster Gennisaretskii; VIII. Morning impressions; IX. Summer jobs; X. The situation of designated homeowners; XI. Meeting penal laborers from the barracks; XII. Catching fish with a hook; XIII. My sailing assignment; XIV. The educated exile Pl.'s farm; Part III; I. Invitation to a seaside stroll; II. Guests of the military commander; III. Preparations for a new journey; IV. Cape Nevel¿skoi; V. Giliaks' provisions caches; VI. Aboard the steamer Shooter; VII. Korsakovsk Post; VIII. Manué Post; IX. The 1891 Manifesto; X. Katorga's tragic days; XI. My new manservant; XII. L¿'s retirement and departure; XIII. Leaving Sakhalin; XIV. A visit to Rykovsk settlement; XV. First news in the press about the Onor atrocities; XVI. Situation for educated people on the island.; Part IV; I. The new status of exile-settler; II. My meeting with General Grodekov; III. The exile-settler Elizaveta K; IV. Women on Sakhalin; V. Personal morality's importance in lifting a man; VI. Losing the most favorable period of life; VII. A trip to Aleksandrovsk Post in winter; VIII. Exiles' hidden sorrows; IX. Vladivostok under military alert; X. In a grave; XI. Held back!; XII. The governor's new request; XIII. Sakhalintsy in Vladivostok; XIV. Distance and time make an impression; Bibliography.