The writer Dostoevsky experienced various forms of confinement during 9 years of his life starting in 1849 and was under constant secret observation until his death. The reason for his confinement was his involvement with a circle of socialist, idealist writers considered to be dangerous to the Czarist regime. In 1980 the Russian writer and physician Chekov visited the penal colony Sakhalin Island, where he found extensive hardships and mistreatment but was not allowed to contact political prisoners. During the Stalin era the artistic community suffered greatly, especially the poets. They were kept from friends, family, and the rest of society in hopes that their nonconformist ideas would be less influential. Today in the Soviet Union both men and women are serving time in labor camps, psychiatric hospitals, and prisons as a result of 'parasitism,' 'anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda,' and other crimes that most Americans find difficult to comprehend. However, the 'glasnost' of the current Soviet regime and the release of Alexander Ogorodnikov provides some ground for optimism about political prisoners. Nevertheless, the reasons why some prisoners have been freed while others are still confined are unclear. 272 footnotes.