Vlas Mikhailovich Doroshevich (1865–1922) is an outstanding journalist, publicist, writer, brilliant theater critic, "the king of feuilletons". He studied at several Moscow gymnasiums, from which he was repeatedly expelled | finished the gymnasium course as an external student. He was a reporter for "Moskovsky leaflet", "Petersburg newspaper", wrote humorous notes in the "Alarm Clock". His fame began in the 1890s, from the time of his work in the famous Odessa Leaf. From 1902 to 1917 he edited the newspaper of I. D. Sytin "Russian Word". During this period, the publication became the most widely read and widely circulated in the Russian Empire.The book "Katorga", presented in this volume, was written by Doroshevich in 1903 after his trip to Sakhalin, the most remote island of the Russian Empire, mastered by fugitive people , convicts and settlers. The writer managed to recreate a completely realistic picture of the tragedies and horrors of Sakhalin: its prisons, executioners, criminals of all stripes - murderers, cannibals, thieves, adventurers. This book was a great success, it was reprinted more than once, including abroad.