Editor's Note:
Japanese personal names are given in Japanese fashion, surname preceding the given name. The spelling 'Kuril' has been adopted in preference to 'Kurile' to better reflect Russian orthography, and because it is the preferred spelling in modem scholarly works by authoritative researchers. Transliteration of Russian names follows the system used by the US Geographical Board. The Russified plurals for names of indigenous peoples such as 'Nivkhi,' 'Even-ki,' etc., are used to denote individuals in the plural, while 'Nivkh,' 'Evenk,' etc., are used as a singular noun or adjective. The exception is 'Uilta' (singular and plural), which is non-Russian in origin and the self-preferred name of the people previously called the Oroki.

Benjamin Franklin once advised aspiring writers: "Be smooth, clear, and short. " Mikhail Vysokov has put this advice to good use in his new general history of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. Cogent, lucid, and brief, this volume provides an instructive overview illuminating Sakhalin in changing local, national, and international contexts. Dr Vysokov is well qualified by training and experience to produce a historical synthesis attuned to post-Soviet conditions... Maps and photographs, appropriately chosen and well produced, add significantly to the text. This volume can be recommended to teachers, students, and general readers as a straight-forward and reliable introduction to Sakhalin's complex past.

Dr John J. Stephan

Professor of History, University of Hawaii

Author of "Sakhalin-A History" and "The Kuril Islands: RussoJapanese Frontier in the Pacific"

Mikhail Vysokov is a native of Sakhalin who received his doctorate in 1987 from the Far East Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography in Vladivostok. Since 1991 he has headed the Sakhalin Center for Documentation of Contemporary History, and lectures at the local Pedagogical Institute.

Dr Vysokov has published more than 60 articles on the history of his native region. He is founder and chief editor of the Krayevedcheskiy Byul-leten', a scholarly journal devoted to local history, and in 1989 was elected President of the Society for Study of Sakhalin and the Kurils.