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The Spy in the Archive: How One Man Tried to Kill the KGB
The story of how one man—a librarian for the KGB—became a traitor to the intelligence agency, stealing the most prized Soviet-era archives and smuggling them to the West.
How do you steal a library? Not just any library but the most secret, heavily guarded archive in the world. The answer is to be a librarian. To be so quiet, that no-one knows what you are up to as you toil undercover and deep amongst the files. The work goes on for decades but remains so low key, that even after your escape, aided by MI6, no one even notices you are gone.
The Spy in the Archive tells the remarkable story of how Vasili Mitrokhin—an introverted archivist who loved nothing more than dusty archives—ended up changing the world. As the in-house archivist for the KGB, the secrets he was exposed to inside its walls turned him first into a dissident and then a spy; a traitor to his country but a man determined to expose the truth about the dark forces that had subverted Russia, forces still at work in the country today.
Historian and journalist Gordon Corera tells of the operation to extract this prized asset from Russia for the first time. It is an edge-of-the-seat thriller, with vivid flashbacks to Mitrokhin’s earlier time as a KGB idealist prepared to do what it took to serve the Soviet Union and his growing realisation that the communist state was imprisoning its own people. It is the story of what it was like to live in the Soviet Union, to raise a family there, and then of one man’s journey from the heart of the Soviet state to disillusion, betrayal, and defection.
At its heart is Mitrokhin’s determination to take on the most powerful institution in the world by revealing its darkest secrets. This is narrative nonfiction at its absolute best.
How do you steal a library? Not just any library but the most secret, heavily guarded archive in the world. The answer is to be a librarian. To be so quiet, that no-one knows what you are up to as you toil undercover and deep amongst the files. The work goes on for decades but remains so low key, that even after your escape, aided by MI6, no one even notices you are gone.
The Spy in the Archive tells the remarkable story of how Vasili Mitrokhin—an introverted archivist who loved nothing more than dusty archives—ended up changing the world. As the in-house archivist for the KGB, the secrets he was exposed to inside its walls turned him first into a dissident and then a spy; a traitor to his country but a man determined to expose the truth about the dark forces that had subverted Russia, forces still at work in the country today.
Historian and journalist Gordon Corera tells of the operation to extract this prized asset from Russia for the first time. It is an edge-of-the-seat thriller, with vivid flashbacks to Mitrokhin’s earlier time as a KGB idealist prepared to do what it took to serve the Soviet Union and his growing realisation that the communist state was imprisoning its own people. It is the story of what it was like to live in the Soviet Union, to raise a family there, and then of one man’s journey from the heart of the Soviet state to disillusion, betrayal, and defection.
At its heart is Mitrokhin’s determination to take on the most powerful institution in the world by revealing its darkest secrets. This is narrative nonfiction at its absolute best.
336 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 6, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 4, 2026
Gordon Corera explores the life of Vasili Mitrokhin, the KGB archivist who secretly copied thousands of classified documents over many years before eventually defecting to the West. The scale of what he accomplished is remarkable, and the book does an excellent job explaining why the Mitrokhin Archive became one of the most significant intelligence coups of the Cold War.
And the research is impressive. And Corera provides plenty of historical context, helping to explain how Soviet intelligence operated and the impact the archive had on Western intelligence agencies. I also appreciated that he avoids sensationalising the material, instead presenting a balanced account of both the espionage and the people involved.
The narrative often jumps between Mitrokhin's personal story and broader Cold War history, which disrupted the flow. There were stretches that felt quite dense, particularly when covering the various intelligence operations and political developments. While these sections added valuable context, they sometimes came at the expense of momentum.
Despite learning a great deal about what he did, I came away feeling that the man himself remained somewhat elusive. A deeper exploration of his motivations and personality would have made the story more engaging.
I admired the depth of research and learned a great deal, but the pacing and structure kept it from being a truly gripping read.
And the research is impressive. And Corera provides plenty of historical context, helping to explain how Soviet intelligence operated and the impact the archive had on Western intelligence agencies. I also appreciated that he avoids sensationalising the material, instead presenting a balanced account of both the espionage and the people involved.
The narrative often jumps between Mitrokhin's personal story and broader Cold War history, which disrupted the flow. There were stretches that felt quite dense, particularly when covering the various intelligence operations and political developments. While these sections added valuable context, they sometimes came at the expense of momentum.
Despite learning a great deal about what he did, I came away feeling that the man himself remained somewhat elusive. A deeper exploration of his motivations and personality would have made the story more engaging.
I admired the depth of research and learned a great deal, but the pacing and structure kept it from being a truly gripping read.
September 28, 2026
The story of a KGB officer who seemed to fail at advancing through the Russian, or Soviet, system and was "banished" to the archives of KGB's headquarters. After seeing the things going on, he begins to save bits and pieces in the form of notes of the archives he saw. He forms the idea that Russia needs to see the truth about what the KGB is really doing.
He tries to get the Americans interested in this cause but they tell him to get lost. The British eventually agree to help get his material out and resettle his family in the west. The archivist never loses his belief that the world, and Russia in particular, need to know what the KGB was doing. He seems to have a very idealistic view of the secrets he had and what he would be able to reveal.
What I seemed to learn is this person becomes totally absorbed in his quest even though by the time he begins revealing his story, many decades have passed involving many of the people involved. By this time, people have died, the secrets no longer matter that much, there are delicate diplomatic issues and the legal process cannot help since original sources were not exfiltrated. Nonetheless, the archivist continues with his Quixotic journey.
He tries to get the Americans interested in this cause but they tell him to get lost. The British eventually agree to help get his material out and resettle his family in the west. The archivist never loses his belief that the world, and Russia in particular, need to know what the KGB was doing. He seems to have a very idealistic view of the secrets he had and what he would be able to reveal.
What I seemed to learn is this person becomes totally absorbed in his quest even though by the time he begins revealing his story, many decades have passed involving many of the people involved. By this time, people have died, the secrets no longer matter that much, there are delicate diplomatic issues and the legal process cannot help since original sources were not exfiltrated. Nonetheless, the archivist continues with his Quixotic journey.
September 2, 2025
A strange book to be sure. Such an author as this, you would think, would write a book which was succinct and wouldn’t flounder. But it does. The basic outline is - KGB officer falls out of love with communism and decides to catalogue its horrors. Fast forward to the early 1990’s and he approaches MI6 with his catalogue. He’s then exfiltrated out of Russian for a new life in the West. But that takes over 300 pages to explain in this book. In my opinion there’s not enough detail in the book to warrant its publishing, but what do I know? It’s an interesting book don’t get me wrong and that’s why it has a four star rating from me but I feel I’m being generous due to my high regard for the author and his previous journalistic work.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 3, 2026
High 3 / low 4. Excellent description of the pervasiveness of internal control in communist / socialist countries. Secret information from and about individuals is power and deemed vitally necessary, both in the past and in the present. Corera, though Mitrokhin's archive, draws a clear line from the revolutionary terrorist organization The Cheka through to Putin and the FSB ("There is no such thing as a former Chekist."). The extent to which the KGB and related organizations focused internally was surprising. The book's pace and impact lagged in the second half.
September 22, 2026
I don't usually read spy novels but this grabbed my attention at the library. It is a true story of a former KGB officer who worked in the KGB archives and who defects to the West. Author Gordon Corera builds the story gradually in a measured pace. The chapters are short yet each is packed with interest. I learned something about about the Soviet Union and Russia from 1950's to 2004 and about spy craft during this time. One of the interesting things the author explores is why the man wanted to defect.
May 26, 2026
Non fiction account of a defector and ex KGB officer's attempt to expose the hypocrisy and crimes of the communist system.
This is by nature of the man whose story it tells, an archivist, a dry and thoughtful account of his actions.
I read one of the author Gordon's books before, secret pigeon service, and that's more enjoyable for my money. But this is good and I love the time period of the cold war and anything to do with espionage.
Enjoyable.
This is by nature of the man whose story it tells, an archivist, a dry and thoughtful account of his actions.
I read one of the author Gordon's books before, secret pigeon service, and that's more enjoyable for my money. But this is good and I love the time period of the cold war and anything to do with espionage.
Enjoyable.
February 22, 2026
Book Club.
March 16, 2026
interesting history of Soviet (communist) Russia and the cold war era
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews