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George and Martha Washington - of Mount Vernon - Virginia - were Americas original first couple. From the 1750s - when young soldier George wooed and wedded Martha Dandridge Custis - a pretty and rich young widow - to the forging of a new nation - Flora Fraser traces the development - both personal and political - of an historic marriage. The private sphere - their love of home and country - the two children Martha brings to this union from a previous marriage - and the confidence she instilled in her beloved second spouse - forms the backdrop to an increasingly public partnership. The leading role played by Virginia in the resistance to British taxation galvanised the pair - radicalising their politics - and in 1775 George Washington was appointed commander-in-chief of the American rebels. In the eight harsh years of the American War of Independence which followed - Marthas staunch support for her husband never wavered. But the eventual victory at Yorktown in 1781 and Washingtons retirement which followed were overshadowed by the death of her son - Jacky.Interweaving the progress and reversals of war - the siege of icebound Boston - the loss of New York and the crossing of the Delaware - with George and Marthas private joys and sorrows - this is a mesmerizing rendering of two formidable characters. Flora Frasers revealing account is the first scholarly portrait of a union which owed its strength in equal measure to both parties. in a narrative enhanced by a close reading of personal - military and presidential papers - Fraser brings George and Martha Washington to ...