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, Martha's staunch support for her husband never wavered. But the eventual victory at Yorktown in 1781 and Washington's retirement which followed were overshadowed by the death of her son, Jacky.