In the opinion of some critics, the book was influenced by The House of the Dead by Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Siberia and Katorga by Sergei Maksimov (who is repeatedly mentioned in the text).

[3] In 1890, Chekhov undertook an arduous journey by train, horse-drawn carriage, and river steamer to the Russian Far East and the katorga, or penal colony, on Sakhalin Island, north of Japan, where he spent three months interviewing thousands of convicts and settlers for a census.

[7]Chekhov witnessed much on Sakhalin that shocked and angered him, including floggings, embezzlement of supplies, and forced prostitution of women.

[14] In 1895 the book was at last published in a separate edition, with the addition of chapters XX–XXIII and with minor corrections of the first nineteen ones, entitled Sakhalin Island (From Travel Notes).

[15][16][17] Chapter XXII was reprinted in a separate edition (with significant text reductions and amendments) from the digest Helping the Hungry.