Archangel

Before political journalist Robert Harris turned to fiction and resurrected Hitler for his best selling novel Fatherland, he also wrote a hugely entertaining account of the farce surrounding the publication of the hoax Hitler diaries. Archangel, with the obvious exception of substituting Hitler for that other 20th-century ogre Josef Stalin, can be seen as something of a combination of these previous projects. The novel opens in present-day Russia where a louche Oxford academic, Christopher "Fluke" Kelso, is attending a conference on the newly available Stalin archives. Kelso quickly becomes embroiled in a quest for some of Uncle Joe's still secret papers--and also a quest to make his own academic reputation--but soon uncovers more than he bargains for. The ghosts of the old authoritarian past exert a peculiar and all too powerful tug on Yeltsin's fragile capitalist democracy and as Kelso is drawn ever nearer to the secret that lies in the remote White Sea port of Archangel so the tragedies of the past become hideously more plausible in the present. Harris is historically sound, politically astute and his acute insight into the apparatus of state repression and minds of despots is unnerving. But most of all he tells a terrific yarn and Archangel sees him on top form. This is his best yet.--Nick Wroe

View other editions of Archangel.
View books by Robert Harris.

A Story of Two Parts - Rated
Kelso is a maverick historian whose controversial opinions on Russia have made him famous across the globe, but also infamous in the academic world. On a trip to Russia he stumbles across a man who claims to have been present at the time of Stalin's death. This man also claims that Stalin had a notebook with him on the day that he died and that he knows the location of this item. With Stalin's notebook Kelso believes he could reinvent Stalinist history, unfortunately so do many other people. Kelso is used to dealing with fellow academics, but this case will take him into the wilds of Russia and put him up against some of the most powerful and dangerous people from Russia's present and its Soviet past.

`Archangel' is an interesting novel that seems to be split into two distinct stories. The first half is a pre De Vinci Code like adventure were likable hero Kelso sets out on a history investigation into the notebook. Personally I really enjoyed this part of the book as it reads like any historian's dream adventure. Unfortunately, the book takes a dip in the second half as it becomes a more traditional thriller. I felt it was a shame that it lost its intelligent stance towards the end. This book may fail to appeal to a wide audience as some will find the first half boring, whilst others will find the second half a little silly. However, I found it a good enough book to read and an interesting insight into Russia's history, both old and new.

3/6 - Rated
one of the first books i read by Robert Harris, literally couldn't put it down.
I have recommended this to a lot of my friends and i recommend it to anyone looking for a good book

brilliant, haunting and chilling - Rated
Unlike the author's most recent title, The Ghost, which is a sad waste of his talents, this book is both brilliant and plausible. And though it was written some years ago, to read it today in the context of Putin's Russia, where Stalin is being rehabilitated as a great leader, is to admire the author even more. As a thriller, the book stacks up brilliantly; as a portrayal of Russia, it's bang on the money, and also for its portrayal of the complex way in which people in Russia, and the former Russian Empire, regard Stalin. Highly, highly recommended.

Better than the TV adaptation - Rated
This was the second noel by Robert Harris that I read and found it a far more accomplished read than Fatherland as it seemed to flow much easier and had a grittier, more realistic feel to it. Harris has a talent for making the seemingly mundane suddenly very sinister and so it goes for (the appallingly named) Fluke Kelso as he digs himself deeper and deeper into a very dark hole.

Harris's research into Stalin's character and how he tormented his cronies is very impressive and made the sequences about The Boss compulsive reading. The race against time element is adequately done, but the denouement was, for me, a bit of a disappointment and I could see it coming a mile off. Worth a read though and far better than a lot of other thrillers that sell more copies.

Well written, gripping storyline - Rated
I really enjoyed Archangel, Fluke Kelso proves a believeable flawed main protagonist. Nice not to have a swashbuckling, gun toting bodybuilder at the centre of the story.

The main plot is handled extremely well, and really makes the reader buy into the plausibility of what unfolds.