Based on Russian, Japanese and Chinese sources, it is the first comprehensive history of Sakhalin.

Introduction -- Geography and prehistory -- Sakhalin and China -- Discovery and exploration -- The advent of Russo-Japanese rivalry, 1785-1875 -- Sakhalin under Tsarist rule, 1875-1905 -- Years of transition and turbulence, 1905-1925 -- Karafuto and Soviet Sakhalin, 1925-1945 -- The end of Karafuto -- Sakhalin since 1945 -- Appendix A: Treaties and agreements -- Appendix B: Russian and Japanese place names in Sakhalin.