Pat Shipman

En 1917, una bella y sexy bailarina era arrestada,acusada de espionaje y ejecutada. Se la señalabacomo la responsable de la muerte de no menosde 50.000 soldados franceses. Sin embargo, muypronto surgieron dudas acerca de la culpabilidadde quien se habia hecho celebre con el nombrede Mata Hari, y sobre todo acerca de la identidadde una de las mujeres mas enigmaticas de lahistoria, toda una leyenda.Pat Shipman, que combina de modo magistral lainvestigacion minuciosa con la prosa colorista, seremonta a los origenes de Margaretha Zella, a suinfancia en una familia desestructurada, a susoscuras y complejas relaciones sentimentales(que incluyen un nefasto matrimonio con unhombre mucho mayor que ella) para explicar dedonde sale la escandalosa y sensual bailarina queno tardo en arrasar en los teatros europeos, enencandilar a todo tipo de grandes hombres de sutiempo, en llevar una vida tan glamurosa comoexcitante y en dilapidar una fortuna.Producto de una rigurosa investigacion, en la quehan salido a la luz documentos y fotografiasasombrosos, Pat Shipman establece conmeridiana claridad las relaciones entre la vidaprofesional y la personal de Mata Hari, lo que nospermite entender la compleja vida del personaje,asi como su tragico fin.

The unique relationship between dogs and humans has had huge evolutionary consequences changing the physical behavioral genetic and emotional characteristics of both species Pat Shipman looks to fossil records and new evidence to trace how the process of domestication worked and discovers how much of ourselves we owe to our canine companions

Biography of the most infamous woman of the early 20th century, the Dutch courtesan and alleged spy Margaretha Zelle (1876-1917), - Mata HariMata Hari was the prototype of the beautiful but unscrupulous female agent who used sexual allure to gain access to secrets, if she was indeed a spy. In 1917, the notorious dancer Mata Hari was arrested, tried, and executed for espionage. It was charged at her trial that the dark-eyed siren was responsible for the deaths of at least 50,000 gallant French soldiers. Irrefutably, she had been the mistress of many senior Allied officers and government officials, even the French Minister of War: a point viewed as highly suspicious. Worse yet, she spoke several European languages fluently and travelled widely in wartime Europe. But was she guilty of espionage?For all the publicity Mata Hari and her trial received, key questions remain unanswered. These questions concern not only her inadequate trial and her unproven guilt, but also the events in her personal life. What propelled Margaretha Zelle, destined to be a Dutch schoolteacher, to transform herself into Mata Hari, the most desirable woman in early 20th-century Paris? She danced before enthusiastic crowds in Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Madrid, Monte Carlo, Milan and Rome, inspiring admiration, jealousy, and bitter condemnation.Pat Shipmans brilliant biography pinpoints the powerful yet dangerous attributes that evoked such strong emotions in those who met Mata Hari, for hitherto the focus has been on espionage, not on exploring the events that shaped her life and caused her to transform herself from rural Dutch girl to international femme fatale.

The unique relationship between dogs and humans has had huge evolutionary consequences changing the physical behavioral genetic and emotional characteristics of both species Pat Shipman looks to fossil records and new evidence to trace how the process of domestication worked and discovers how much of ourselves we owe to our canine companions

Shipman emplea su exquisito estilo narrativo como una mullida alfombra mágica para transportar a sus lectores cómodamente al pasado... Una brillante historia, el apasionante relato de uno de los personajes históricos más interesantes sobre los que he tenido la oportunidad de leer.