Femme Fatale: Love, Lies, and the Unknown Life of Mata Hari

During the First World War, just as during the Dreyfus case, officials in Paris needed a scapegoat for their deficiencies. This time, Mata Hari was a convenient victim.In the author's words: "The Allied commanders, especially the French, needed someone to blame, to punish—to defeat, as they were being defeated by the Germans. And there she came, the perfect scapegoat: a tall, dark woman..."So Mata Hari was sacrificed.To quote the author again:”Years later, after the Second World War, the prosecutor André Mornet spoke to a writer, Paul Guimard, about Mata Hari. Guimard wrote: “He did not confide in me to the fundamental basis of the [Mata Hari] affair, but he told me with a supreme indifference, ‘Between you and me, there wasn’t enough [evidence] to flog a cat.’”Mata Hari's trouble was that she was getting too old to dance for the public and in any case the war made a stage career impossible. But she needed money to lead the kind of life she wanted and, in the end, she was not wise enough to fade into the background, to forego the luxuries she preferred.She trusted so many men, so many officials; she had so much confidence in her ability to keep men enthralled. But even her last lover turned against her when she was charged with espionage.Years after the execution, France went on to the humiliating defeat of World War II. France always loses ignominiously, as it did later in Algeria and Vietnam.This book is well organized. The writing is clear, easily passing from one sentence to the next and one paragraph to another. The style is excellent.

One main focus of this book was on the possibility that Mata Hari had syphilis, that she acquired it from her first husband, and that it caused the death of her children. Though some interesting information was presented regarding the treatment and prevalence of the in general disease, far too much space was taken by this consideration, which is rather a side-light to her career. Another point that deeply engaged Shipman was the gathering by French Intelligence of pseudo-evidence against Mata Hari:, the treatment of this seems comprehensive. But as with the syphilis theme, the results could have been summarized, rather than being documented and examined in laborious academic style.The material on the Dutch involvement in the East Indies, and the life of the military there, was highly relevant and extremely interesting.What was missing was any discussion of Mata Hari's artistic accomplishment. We are left ignorant of what she did or didn't learn from traditional Indonesian dance. Likewise, we are no wiser as to what people saw in her besides "novelty and nudity". Admittedly the only photographic record is in the form of risque postcards, but these show remarkable charisma and sense of drama. Surely there were reviews of her performances? She gave countless interviews: couldn't some of these could have been excerpted to reveal her aesthetic?The image that emerges from this book's interesting but rather partial view of Mata Hari is of a brave, brilliant and audacious woman whom one would like to learn more about.

A good biography of one of the 20th. Centuries most interesting spys/nonspy...Professor Shipman writes a no hold barred tale of Mata Hari...The book is really two stories. The first is how Margaretha Zelle born of Dutch parents became Mata Hari...Margaretha Zelle was a woman of enormous talents in language who mastered besides her native Dutch, German, French, English and Spanish along with with the languages of the Dutch East Indies where she pent her years as a young woman married to a Dutch Colonial Officer...Marrage, an abusive husband and the hard colonial life were not for her and after a few years she divorced here husband and returned to Holland...This was the begaining of her transformation from a wife and mother to a performer and a high priced courtesan...The second story was how she got involved in espionage and spying or not...Professor Shipman lays out the "factual information" we have on Mata Hari and then leaves it to the reader to determine if Mata Hari was a spy or because of her notarity and the fact that she had been a paid mistress of some many powerful men it was best to silence her...The reader has to determine if she was an agent for the Germans, French, both or some other country, the facts are not clear...If you like an honest well scribed book then you will enjoy Femme Fatle, but don't expect the author to spoon feed you any speculative ending.

A fascinating, detailed, relaxing and overall interesting read. Well written. Authors supported her thesis of Mata Hari's innocence with detailed facts. Only gave 4 stars because the inclusion of entire letters and lists of items confiscated from Mata Hari were a bit too long. Author could have summarized some of the main points and included the full letters and lists into the appendix. But with that said, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would recommend for both the novice historian (like myself) and professional historians.

An excellent story of the life of Mata Hari and the disgusting way in which she was presented at her trial. There was no evidence to prove that she was a spy and she was used as a scapegoat by the French because of the disastrous losses which they had suffered at Verdun and later as a result of the Nivelle Offensive. It will be interesting to read the records when they are released later this year. The Dutch should then demand an apology from the French government and a pardon for Mata Hari, even though they were complicit in what eventually happened to her.

A good book that provides extensive historical information about a controversial character.I had heard much about Mata Hari and always found her a fascinating character. THis book charts her life in great detail and especially the way in which she was abused by men in her formative years and latterly at the end of her life.Rather like Icarus she flew too close to the sun and paid the ultimate price but she certainly lived life to the full.

The book was for a friend so I haven't yet been able to read it myself. I chose it as this seems to be the best book available about Mata Hari in this the 100th anniversary year of her execution by the French during WW1However, my friend has told me that at first glance it looks extremely well researched, interesting, and well written.Excellent service from the bookseller.

This is an interesting book about someone whose name is well known but whose life is less well known.

book arrived in perfect state but late