Book Review - Hourly History's "Mata Hari"

Mata Hari: A Life from Beginning to End (Biographies of Women in History Book 9) by Hourly History
A well-written book with valuable lessons left for the readers

It is timely to write this review on the Armistice Day, 2021.

Thank you for your service, veterans.

(Hourly History, "Mata Hari," Kindle Ed., 2019, p. 33)
...Europe was at war, but as far as Mata Hari was concerned, it had nothing to do with her...

The book starts and ends nicely with both its fine entr'/ intr'o-duct'ion and con-clos'/ -clus'ion.

This book asks me a critical question: Is the universal suffrage to give every single grown-up (simply based on physical age) a vote really safe for our society and future? It certainly feels good about ourselves with that vote in our hands, but what if it's the way we destroy the society and future with our own hands after all?

Shouldn’t it be granted only to those men and women who understand the world affairs in big picture for long-run effects, so that they are capable of making tough decisions to vote for the right representatives even though they give you some “unpopular” hardships for now?

Are you one of these cap’able voters with “real” grown-up patience and insight?

So Lady Gaga isn't the first one to have claimed so, lol:
(Kindle Ed., pp. 17-19)
...Margaretha moved in slow, undulating movements as she gently shed her loosely fitting veils. Her dancing style escaped accusations of impropriety by claiming to be holy, an act of worship. Her dance wasn’t pornography, she claimed; it was art...The timing was right. European high society’s obsession with the art and culture of the east was at its peak. And in Paris, the behaviors of the pleasure-seeking demi-monde were filtering into the mainstream. Everywhere you looked, glamor, excess, and sensuality were on display. In 1905 alone, Mata Hari danced in more than 30 public and private performances. Some of these performances were given in front of sold-out audiences at famous theatres like the Trocadero. Some were in the homes of patrons, like the banker Baron Henri de Rothschild. It didn’t take long for news of Mata Hari’s success to appear in the press. Speculation about Mata Hari’s true identity dominated articles written about her, and in interviews she spun webs of lies to intensify her own mystique. But she couldn’t hide her identity for long. In a publication named Today’s Woman, Mata Hari was outed as Mrs. MacLeod. Predictably, Rudolf was enraged. It was humiliating enough to be deserted by your wife. For your wife to go on to be Europe’s most celebrated sex symbol was unbearable. Rudolf decided to seek a divorce on the grounds of her immoral behavior, indecency, and adultery. Armed with nude photographs of Mata Hari, taken during her performances, Rudolf’s attorney argued for full custody of Non. Knowing she couldn’t fight Rudolf’s claims of indecency, Mata Hari acquiesced. The divorce was granted in April of 1906, and Mata Hari lost all contact with her daughter. Back in Paris, Mata Hari’s career was going from strength to strength. With Gabriel Astruc working as her manager, she secured a performance at the Olympia Theatre in Paris, for which she earned the huge sum of 10,000 francs. Next Mata Hari went to Madrid where she mesmerized Spanish audiences and made the acquaintance of Jules Cambon, the French ambassador in Madrid. Cambon was head over heels for Mata Hari and hosted a lavish reception for her to introduce her to all his official friends. This relationship would be important later in Mata Hari’s life.

Look, this is the very vaes/ face of our modern democracy run by those who know nothing about Human history: We are meant to be stuck in the “evil circle” since we keep moving with snap policy decisions without "profound" understanding in our history (hae-/ high-stor'y with "to[u]r" in it) and “causes” behind the vis’ible effects before our vis’ages.

(Ibid., pp. 19-20)
After performing in Monte Carlo, Mata Hari went to Berlin where she performed for adoring audiences. While there, she met a wealthy German lieutenant, Alfred Kiepert. Kiepert revered Mata Hari and set her up with an apartment in Berlin and accompanied her across Europe for her dancing engagements. The relationship lasted three years, and while it was not a secret, Kiepert took pains to keep Mata Hari separate from his wife. When Kiepert’s wife issued an ultimatum, he broke off his relationship with Mata Hari and gave her 300,000 gold marks, the equivalent of more than $4 million today.

It must have been like a South Korean or Japanese celebrity dating a PLA Officer while performing in PRC today.

(Ibid., p. 21)
...Duncan was a true artist. She couldn’t stand self-promotion and wanted nothing to do with the commercial side of her performances. In this aspect, Duncan was the opposite of Mata Hari.

Yet, her true spirit was to be ignored facing the rise of Hari due to the power of "extreme" Capitalist reality. No wonder the 3S (Screen, Sports and Sex) "industries" and our modern democracy go hand in hand.

(Ibid., pp. 21-22)
...Mata Hari was thrilled and used her linguistic advantage (Duncan did not speak German) to charm critics and interviewers...

A good lesson for anyone to win people’s/ popul'ar support: Nothing intrigues and makes the people’/ popul’ace feel more intimate with the celeb speaking their own native tongue.

(Ibid., p. 23)
...Rousseau set up his lover in a country chateau near Tours where she was referred to as Madame Rousseau. Rousseau stayed with Mata Hari every weekend, and the rest of the time she lived like French aristocracy; she rode horses, attended races, and had staff who tended to her every whim. With no imperative to earn money herself, Mata Hari rarely danced, content it seemed to bow out of the war of the tights, victorious. In 1911, Mata Hari and Rousseau moved to a mansion in Neuilly-sur-Seine and resumed their lavish life. Yet despite being a stockbroker, Rousseau either had no head for figures or felt he had no choice but to keep Mata Hari in the state of excess to which she was accustomed. Either way, by 1912, he was bankrupt. Rousseau not only squandered his own fortune and returned to his wife a ruined man, but he also lost Mata Hari’s private wealth...

A typical man whore and an idiot: The end is always almost the same.

(Ibid., p. 24)
...no performance in a short-run opera or ballet would be enough to finance Mata Hari’s luxurious lifestyle. With Rousseau back at home with his wife, Mata Hari set about finding another wealthy man...

Yet, if some men were still sad when she was shot, they must have been typical man whores and idiots whose ends were always to be almost the same as they didn't think with their brains, but with their penises.

(Ibid., pp. 26-27)
...Once settled in Berlin, she was offered a lucrative contract to dance at the Metropol Theatre. The contract was for six months, for which Mata Hari would be paid a salary of 48,000 francs. This sum could keep Mata Hari in her exuberant lifestyle. While in Berlin, she also checked in on an old flame. In 1914, Mata Hari and Alfred Kiepert resumed their affair. Mata Hari’s run at the Metropol wasn’t due to begin until September of 1914. She intended to spend months leading up to it as she always had, in lavish luxury, being received in high society on the arm of her lover...

Yeah, in 1914...yet why these "celebs" are not considered regular, common or normal people? Why do our stupid societies make the people look up to these, in general, "ignorant" people with no insight? They are not even busy making their living, but they stay ignorant, which has no excuse; they are not labeled "innocent."

(Ibid., 27-28)
At the outbreak of the First World War, Mata Hari had a number of lovers. Among them was Mr. Griebel, a chief of police. In late July 1914, Mata Hari was dining with Griebel in the private room of a fashionable restaurant when a riot broke out. Austria had invaded Serbia a few days before, and the city was tense with anticipation. The tension broke out in a violent demonstration in front of the emperor’s palace with demonstrators chanting, “Deutschland über alles! (Germany above all!)” Mata Hari couldn’t ignore the unrest any longer. She knew her beautiful home and treasured belongings back in France were at risk as she was not a French citizen. If only she could return to Paris, she had a chance of stopping the French authorities from seizing her property. A few days after the riot, Germany declared war on Russia and France. Now Mata Hari was in serious trouble. Her accounts were frozen in Germany, and her costumier seized her jewelry and furs. As a longtime resident of France, Mata Hari was not welcome in Germany, nor could she return to France as she was not a citizen. Although she had many powerful friends in high places in both Germany and France, none would risk being seen to help a foreigner. It was a dilemma that would be Mata Hari’s undoing.

Hmm, I had looked for this advice in Pablo Picasso's biography, yet, I found a better one here in Mata Hari's.

(Ibid., pp. 29-30)
Police stopped her on the street and demanded that she produce her Dutch passport to prove her nationality. Convinced she was Russian, police transported her to the police station on a number of occasions. Mata Hari was determined to escape Germany. She boarded a train to Switzerland on August 6, 1914 with an extensive set of luggage but hardly a franc in her purse. It seems she didn’t have the appropriate documentation to prove her neutral Dutch citizenship, or if she did, the authorities simply wouldn’t accept it. Mata Hari was thrown off the train to Switzerland somewhere in Germany and forced to take another train back to Berlin, without her luggage. Back at her hotel in Berlin, Mata Hari plotted what to do next. She had to travel to Frankfurt to get a new Dutch passport, then she would go directly to Amsterdam. But before she started her journey, there were a few things to attend to. First, she needed money. Mata Hari quickly made the acquaintance of a Dutch businessman who was sympathetic to his fellow Dutchwoman and offered to pay her fare to Amsterdam. Next, Mata Hari had her hair dyed in an attempt to conceal her identity and perhaps her age. Her new Dutch passport listed her age as 38, her height as 5 ft 11, and her hair color as blonde. Mata Hari successfully returned to Holland in late 1914. She moved into a house in the Hague and somehow convinced a contractor to make extensive renovations with no money to pay him...

Yeah, somehow...

(Ibid., p. 30)
...The contractors accepted her request to pay nothing for two years from the day she moved in. With no way to support herself and nothing to show for her long and successful career, Mata Hari made money the only way she could—by being a mistress to wealthy men. She reignited her affair with Baron Edouard Willem van der Capellan, a colonel in the Dutch military.

Men got our nature, but no grace or shame. Only a few do, but interesting that it doesn't attract women after all. Ironic, right? Lol We, men and women alike, are truly maters of irony.

(Ibid., p. 30)
Van der Capellan covered Mata Hari’s expenses, including her maid Anna’s salary, but she soon ran up debts. Hounded by creditors and quickly bored with life in the Hague, Mata Hari looked for distractions...

“Certainly this life suits me. I can satisfy all my caprices; tonight I dine with Count A and tomorrow with Duke B. If I don’t have to dance, I make a trip with Marquis C. I avoid serious liaisons.” —Mata Hari

Of course this spoiled woman always had to live with debt. I'm not saying her end was meant to be that way, but I am somehow feeling satisfied with her end, honestly.

(Ibid., p. 30)
...There was no fun to be had anymore with no fuel, little food, and definitely no glamor in Holland during the First World War...

While people were perishing by hundreds of thousands in daily bases...

(Ibid., p. 31)
Mata Hari couldn’t settle in the Hague. Life was too sedentary, too dull...

Why wouldn't she go work in the front and see some action under enemy artillery fire? She could've been nursing the wounded men fighting for their countries!

(Ibid., pp. 31-32)
...In December of 1915, she danced with the French Opera at the Royal Theater. Reviews were congratulatory, but Mata Hari was forced to adjust her style to cater conservative Dutch audiences. There was no dropping of veils during her performance any longer. After these performances, Mata Hari decided that she couldn’t bear Holland any longer and had to return to Paris. While there, she thought she might reclaim her possessions from Neuilly and sell them to raise some cash. Once back in the city she adored, she couldn’t leave. Mata Hari reconnected with former lovers like Henri de Marguerie, secretary to the French foreign affairs minister. She also met new lovers, like the Marquis de Beaufort, and tried to restart her career.

History of WWI only tells the war. Even the pandemic that killed millions world-wide at the time was not properly spotlighted. Of course, these scenes and "wartime" lifestyle among the brain-damaged people like Mata Hari are not usually in historical movies or anything for the students and the people, and it tells the value of this book.

(Ibid., p. 34)
...Living at the Grand Hotel, she did not see the devastating effect the Battle of Verdun had on the French population. Mata Hari went about her days much as she had done pre-war on a daily whirlwind tour of Paris’s best dressmakers, jewelers, manicurists, florists, hairdressers, hotels, cafes, and restaurants. She also had reunions with a number of lovers, including the Marquis de Beaufort, a high-ranking Belgian officer. We have detailed records of exactly how Mata Hari spent her days and nights in Paris around June 1916 because she was being followed by two French agents named Tarlet and Monier. It seems Mata Hari knew she was being watched, but by whom, she didn’t seem to be concerned. She was used to being the center of attention. While she made attempts to lose the men who were tailing her from time to time, for the most part, she let them follow along two steps behind.

Again, while millions of people were being slaughtered every year during those four years...Staying in a safe city dating military officers (as long as they were legally available) is not a problem at all of course. It is her mentality and lifestyle.

(Ibid., pp. 34-35)
...But then, in late July, Mata Hari fell in love. The object of her affection was a Russian captain named Vladimir Maslov. “Vadim,” as Mata Hari called him, was in his early twenties, almost half her age. He was stationed at the western front near Mailly and had to return to his post in early August. Mata Hari’s romance with Vadim was brief but intense, and she promised to meet with him soon at Vittel, near Mailly.

And for that she became the French spy.

(Ibid., p. 39)
But Mata Hari was no spy. When she wrote her first letter to Ladoux, asking for an advance to buy a wardrobe with which she would seduce the military general of Belgium, Mata Hari refused to use invisible ink. The letter could have been infiltrated and read by anyone. She was entirely ignorant of the methods of secret agents and was herself being spied on by French, British, and possibly German agents,

I...don’t know what to say..................................

(Ibid., pp. 40-41)
Mata Hari immediately passed this information on to a Colonel Devignes, an attaché of the French embassy in Madrid. Mata Hari had a naive trust of anyone French. She wrote long, incriminating letters and handed them over to third parties, asked direct questions, and continued to demand money. Ladoux was desperate to find a way to get rid of her. After passing on the valuable information she managed to get out of Major Kalle, Mata Hari considered her mission accomplished. It was time to return to France to collect her reward...Denvignes had gladly taken the information Mata Hari collected for the French and had given every indication that he was completely besotted by her. But on return to Paris, Mata Hari found that no-one would admit to knowing him.

.....................................sigh...speechless.

BTW, gotta get rid of the indefinite article "a" or put a "comma" between the Colonel and Devignes.

And this was her end:
(Ibid., pp. 44-45)
Bouchardon treated Mata Hari with contempt from their very first meeting. He had her committed to Saint-Lazare prison, a notoriously filthy, damp, and strict facility. She was kept in almost total isolation, given paltry rations of food, and denied the opportunity to exercise or bathe. These conditions were unbearable for a woman who was used to the best lifestyle money could buy...She wrote letters to Bouchardon begging him to release her, but Bouchardon had made up his mind. In his opinion, Mata Hari was a woman with no morals, a degenerate who had committed despicable acts for which she must be punished...

Justice upon the selfish:
(Ibid., p. 48)
...she was judged because of her perceived immorality and paid the ultimate price. In the eyes of her persecutors, Mata Hari had no shame...

The book exhibits a couple of self-contradictions (co[u]ntr-a-dict'ion) about her relationships with her men as well as a handful of typos:
(Kindle Ed. p. 3)
Adam owned a hat shop and had made such good investments in the oil industry that he had become quite wealthy...

Is this a gramm'atical error, or he had become wealthy, so he could own that hat shop?

(Ibid., p. 12)
...Money was incredibly tight, and Rudolf hardy sent anything for Margaretha and the children to live on while they waited for his summons...

Correction: ...hardly...

A space is missing:
(Ibid., p. 24)
In 1911, Mata Hari danced in La Scala in Milan in Gluck’s opera,Armide...

(Ibid., p. 39)
On November 5, Mata Hari left Paris on her way to Holland, from which she intended to begin her seduction of the military general of Belgium...

Correction: ...the military general of Belgium "under German occupation."

Those who just started learning WWI history would need this critical en-/ in-form'ation.

It is a very well-written book with nice choices of voc'abul-ary:
(Kindle Ed., p. 21)
In late 1906, Mata Hari performed in Vienna where she enraptured audiences and the press...

(Ibid., p. 34)
Around this time, Mata Hari met up with an old lover, Second Lieutenant Jean Hallaure, who was wounded in battle and now served at the French military intelligence agency. Hallaure spent a great deal of time with Mata Hari in July of 1916 and seemed to be completely infatuated with her...

(Ibid., p. 40)
Next, Mata Hari traveled to Madrid and sent another letter to Ladoux, again refusing to use invisible ink, asking what she should do now. With no answer, she tried to carry out her mission from Madrid, making contact with German officials based there. It didn’t take long for Mata Hari to procure information from powerful men. She made the acquaintance of a Major Kalle, who according to Mata Hari’s accounts let slip key details about the disembarkation of a German submarine on the coast of French-controlled Morocco...

"French" Morocco...that's why Spain was important despite the fact the country wasn't even involved in the war: a great piece of information.

It is a book worth reading as, by the time you close the book, you will have learned some valuable lessons from a typical example of a “selfish life” and its consequences clearly described in this fine work in detail.