Mata Hari, the True Story: The True Story [Hardcover]

Russell Warren Howe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1986

Set against the background of turn-of-the-century Paris and the collapse of the Belle Epoque in World War I, this book offers a complete portrait of the famous courtesan Mata Hari who launched strip tease dancing, and attempts to answer the riddles surrounding her life story. Given access to Mata Hari's sealed dossier, Howe argues convincingly that Mata Hari was, in fact, a victim of collusion between Germany and France and her prosecution and death sentence was a cover-up for corruption and high-level espionage.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Margaretha Zelle, aka Mata Hari, was executed by the French in 1917 as a German spy. Since she was famous as an exotic dancer, news of the execution shocked Europe and the legend of this unfortunate woman has persisted. Howe, author of The Power Peddlers, etc., argues that she was guilty only of wanting to spy for the French, of hoping to pull off a financial coup and settle down with the man she loved. Her marriage at 18 to Capt. Rudolf MacLeod had taken her to Indonesia and when the marriage broke up and she returned to Europe, she turned to Hindu or Buddhist (she never knew the difference) "religious" dancing, which was in essence stripping. This led to life as a demimondaine, and her conquests included a German crown prince and the composer Massenet. Self-dramatizing, self-deceiving, superficial, she was easy prey to the French when a victim was needed. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Much has been written about Mata Hari, but a lot of it is myth. The famous courtesan and dancer was executed by a French firing squad in 1917 for being a German spy. Howe, a seasoned journal ist and author, recounts Mata Hari's life, devoting most of the book to her arrest and trial. He is the first author to have had access to Mata Hari's judicial files. Based on these files, Howe has written a lucid, readable account in which he satisfactorily argues that Mata Hari was not a German spy, and "in a professional sense, she was never a spy at all." Howe's research supports Sam Waagenaar's much earlier conclusions in Mata Hari (1965). Recommended for public and academic libraries. Kath leen Farago, Lakewood P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 292 pages
• Publisher: Dodd Mead; 1st edition (May 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0396087175
• ISBN-13: 978-0396087175
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #484,761 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally -- an objective, factual book about Mata Hari, May 16, 2007

By 

Book Woman (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mata Hari, the True Story: The True Story (Hardcover)

This is the book to read if you want the real story about Mata Hari. Author Russell Warren Howe, an accomplished journalist, was the first writer to have access to the French Ministry of Defense's dossier on Mata Hari, which had been sealed for 68 years.

The documents in that dossier revealed that Mata Hari was nothing more than an ageing courtesan (and former exotic dancer) who became a very amateurish spy for the French in order to support the younger man she hoped to marry. She was set up by German intelligence in retaliation for her swindling them out of some money. French intelligence fell for this, then covered up by falsifying information and allowed her to become a sacrifice to the "spy fever" that then gripped World War I France.

Most other books about Mata Hari (such as Major Thomas Coulson's "Mata Hari: Courtesan and Spy") are outright fabrications that perpetuate the false image of her as a treacherous femme fatale who was responsible for the deaths of thousands of Allied soldiers. This book reveals what she actually was -- certainly a promiscuous, self-indulgent, foolish woman, but not the master spy of legend.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The life and murder of Mata Hari, November 10, 2008

By 

Kevin M Quigg (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

I have often heard of the treachery of Mata Hari. In this story, Howe uncovers the tall tales and relates the true story of the Dutch woman. This woman had many bad qualities, but she did not betray France. She was guilty of sleeping with all sorts of men (including Germans) and taking money from them. However there is little evidence she actually betrayed any secrets to the Germans. A German embassy official gave her money in Holland, and another one gave her money in Madrid. All she related is what she had read in the newspapers while in Paris. This is basically why they shot her. The French basically fell for a trick of the Germans when they read of her duties from a compromised code message. For that reason, she was shot.

Howe goes into great detail on the trial portion of Mata Hari's life. I would have liked more information on her pre-war relations with some of the famous of Europe. Howe was exposed to the secret court transcripts of Mata Hari. This is a nice read about a little known subject. Howe exposes the fault of the French military judicial system. The book does goes on too long on the court and minute details of some key aspects.

4.0 out of 5 stars "...this rash and foolhardy woman....", February 11, 2012

By 

adorian - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mata Hari, the True Story: The True Story (Hardcover)

I always assumed Mata Hari was some brilliant, wily, clever lady who knew exactly what she was doing. The author of this interesting book wastes no time proving otherwise. Mata Hari (not even her real name, of course) was a plump fraud who couldn't really dance, but she could make love, usually with rich old men who paid her generously. The whole case against her, carefully documented here, was really just a comedy of errors, with everybody misunderstanding and misinterpreting everyone else's actions. She emerges as a stupid airhead who wanted money and thought she could get a lot of it by seducing men and gaining a few "secrets" that weren't even secrets.

The Germans were using her as a decoy to fake out French Intelligence. The French needed a convenient sacrificial lamb so that the incompetent bureaucrats could CYA. It's just amazing how everyone comes off as very stupid and corrupt.

The first third of the book is fascinating. We get lots of detail about Marguerite's rise from poor little Dutch girl to military wife to exotic dancer to courtesan to spy. The middle third repeats most of the spy business we've already read about. The final third repeats it yet again with the author constantly pointing out all the cover-ups and errors and misinformation everyone is passing off to everyone else. He displays great scholarship in pointing out errors that nobody else apparently ever noticed.

It makes a fascinating story.

The opera queen within me objects to the reference to operatic soprano Geraldine Farrar as "contralto Geraldine Ferrar."
And the English teacher within me really objects to all the grammar mistakes. But since most readers will be more interested in the backstabbing and triple-crossing and lying that permeate this story, I can recommend it without hesitation.