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

In 1917, the notorious Oriental dancer Mata Hari was arrested on the charge of espionage; less than one year later, she was tried and executed, charged with the deaths of at least 50,000 gallant French soldiers. The mistress of many senior Allied officers and government officials, even the French minister of war, she had a sharp intellect and a golden tongue fluent in several languages; she also traveled widely throughout war-torn Europe, with seeming disregard for the political and strategic alliances and borders. But was she actually a spy? In this persuasive new biography, Pat Shipman explores the life and times of the mythic and deeply misunderstood dark-eyed siren to find the truth.

In 1917, the notorious Oriental dancer Mata Hari was arrested on the charge of espionage; less than one year later, she was tried and executed, charged with the deaths of at least 50,000 gallant French soldiers. The mistress of many senior Allied officers and government officials, even the French minister of war, she had a sharp intellect and a golden tongue fluent in several languages; she also traveled widely throughout war-torn Europe, with seeming disregard for the political and strategic alliances and borders. But was she actually a spy? In this persuasive new biography, Pat Shipman explores the life and times of the mythic and deeply misunderstood dark-eyed siren to find the truth.

[E]ngrossing . . . casting Mata Haris rise and fall against the background of her life, the turmoil of World War I and, ultimately, the moral standards of the era. . . . Shipman teases out the details with a novelists skill. -Bloomberg News

Shipman brings to her excellent books the authority of a paleontologist and the talent of an accomplished writer. -New York Times Book Review

The melodramatic true story of a mythic grand horizontal, told with clarity and understanding. -Kirkus Reviews

An engrossing tale that shelµ