Trust me, watch the show first, then read the book.
I didn’t set out to read a third Robert Harris novel this year, but then I watched the 2005 BBC miniseries Archangel and found out it was based on his 1998 book of the same name…so basically I had no choice.
The show stars Daniel Craig as Christopher “Fluke” Kelso, an American academic specializing in Russian history. He’s in Moscow for a conference and is approached by a local named Rapava who has a tantalizing story about a secret Stalin diary. Kelso can’t resist the possibilities, and he embarks on a surreal quest to find it with the help of Rapava’s estranged daughter Zinaida and a journalist named O’Brien.
Fluke and O’Brien are unlikely partners, the former cautious and the latter brash. Their interactions are classic ‘opposites thrown together’ situations. In other words, fun to read and fun to watch.
Harris is such an intelligent, elegant, and wryly observant writer. He was a journalist for the BBC, and it shows. There is also a slight academic vibe in his novels, I think he’d be a fascinating lecturer.
The title Archangel refers to a frigid port city in Russia, located off the White Sea. Kelso and O’Brien travel there to search for information about a local girl who was chosen to go to Moscow to meet Stalin. Did she really give birth to his son? My, what a story that would be…
There’s a scene in the show when they get to the bridge leading to Archangel, and the city comes into view. I think my jaw dropped. I definitely backed up and paused to take in the striking scene. Picture slate skies, smoke billowing from stacks, heavy machinery, and concrete slab buildings. Utterly cold, grey, and desolate.
The show mostly follows the book, but there are some differences, including the endings. The book has a clever reveal while the movie has more of a Hollywood wrap-up, but both are entertaining surprises.
Studying the history of the Stalin era must be slightly depressing, what with all the secrecy, violence, and cruelty. You’d think we could all agree that he was a very bad man, but no, he has his fans. Like this character who says “Objectively, history will record that Stalin was right…From the subjective perspective he may seem cruel, even wicked…It is my unshakable belief that when the proper perspective is restored, statues will be raised again to Stalin.”
The unsettling thing is that this just happened. A Stalin statue was recently installed in Moscow (links below). Truth and fiction: lately, it all seems to run together. Books like Archangel are a perfect mix of history and imagination.
BBC https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/cz63n6j7407o
CNN https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/23/style/joseph-stalin-monument-moscow-metro-intl-scli
The other Robert Harris books I read this year:
bookthrasher 