{"product_id":"i-am-mata-hari-the-life-story-of-the-worlds-most-famous-dancer-courtesan-and-spy-paperback","title":"I am Mata Hari: the life story of the world's most famous dancer, courtesan and spy - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eRichard William Short\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNovel shortlisted for: \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Quagga Prize for Literary Fiction 2014\u003c\/i\u003e (United Kingdom)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner: \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e Canada Book Awards\u003c\/i\u003e (Historical Fiction, 2014 publication year)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFeatured: \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e Historical Fiction Society\u003c\/i\u003e (United Kingdom Review, Summer 2015)\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eMata Hari...\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The name evokes images of espionage, sensuality, eroticism, \u003cbr\u003e lust, love and betrayal, all amidst the backdrop of the First World War...\u003cbr\u003e the Great War... the \u003ci\u003eWar to End All Wars.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eMata Hari...\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e You know the name of the woman who was accused of being the greatest\u003cbr\u003e female spy of the century.\u003cbr\u003e You know the name of the woman whose exploits were claimed to cause\u003cbr\u003e the slaughter of 50,000 men.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eMata Hari...\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e You know her name, but you don't know her story.\u003cbr\u003e -And it is not at all what you think.\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBorn to an affluent Dutch family in 1876, Margaretha Zelle is cast into poverty, abandoned by the father she idolizes and watches helplessly as her mother dies of despair. An unwanted burden to her relatives and abused by men in authority, she flees into a marriage with a man so brutal their servants in the colonial East Indies take their revenge upon them in a way no woman should bear.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePenniless, alone and in defiance of convention, Margaretha reinvents herself in France as \u003ci\u003eMata Hari\u003c\/i\u003e, a gifted dancer and notorious courtesan who epitomizes the grandeur of the \u003ci\u003eBelle Époque\u003c\/i\u003e - the Golden Age before the First World War.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePerforming to packed houses across Europe, lover to crowned heads and the richest and most powerful men of the age, the public views her flamboyant life with outrage and envy. No one, not even the jealous imitators who conspire against her, sees the deep personal sorrow she hides within.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen the Great War crashes about her, trapping her deep within Germany, she escapes to her homeland as a destitute refugee before returning to Paris to rebuild her life and career. There she meets Vadim, a Russian nobleman who promises to make all her dreams come true and for whom she enters into the murky world of espionage, a game in which she is both player and pawn.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs unique in history as Cleopatra or Helen of Troy, a century after her death her name still has the power to enflame the imagination.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eClick the \u003ci\u003eAdd to Cart\u003c\/i\u003e button now.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMr Short lives in the rural outskirts of Ottawa, the capital of Canada, with his wife (and Muse), April, their two furry kids, Ian, a border (-line) collie and Miss Daisy, an abandoned hound.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eHe is an avid motorcyclist, shooter (target and service pistol, service rifle and black powder), private pilot, aircraft homebuilder and First World War history buff.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eA professional writer since high school, he is also an award-winning playwright, a former magazine columnist and internationally-published author.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhile researching a series of novels he started writing when he taught small engine mechanics at the Embogo Training Centre, in Papua-New Guinea, he stumbled onto the real-life biography of Mata Hari. He found her tale so compelling he finished his first eBook novel, \u003ci\u003eI am Mata Hari the life story of the world's most famous dancer, courtesan and spy\u003c\/i\u003e, before the original project, a trilogy that mirrors Canada's search for identity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 372\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.77 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e May 10, 2014\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53329223156019,"sku":"9781499306132","price":31.26,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0300\/5595\/6612\/files\/ZQsNvfxdFc9781499306132.webp?v=1778161823","url":"https:\/\/www.vysn.com\/en-ca\/products\/i-am-mata-hari-the-life-story-of-the-worlds-most-famous-dancer-courtesan-and-spy-paperback","provider":"VYSN","version":"1.0","type":"link"}