Shlisselburg prison accepted prisoners only by registered imperial order, and only a registered imperial decree could release the prisoner of the "Hopeless Island." "Hopeless" - because they were almost always imprisoned in the fortress for life. The book contains memoirs and letters from prisoners of the Shlisselburg fortress who served their sentences within its walls in 1907-1917: F. N. Petrov, D. A. Trilisser, V. O. Lichtenstadt, I. K. Hamburg, V. Ya. Ilmas and others. Many memoirs were published for the first time. The fate of the political convicts of the "new Shlisselburg" is instructive. The history of the Shlisselburg fortress as a state prison of the Romanovs helps to understand it. From the beginning of the 18th century, the imperial authorities chose the fortress as a place of imprisonment for their especially dangerous political enemies. This ominous choice was helped by the proximity of the fortress to the then capital of the Russian Empire, but especially by its complete isolation on a small island when the Neva leaves Lake Ladoga.