Horizon Information Portal

e-branch

Home

My Account/Renew Loans

Find Magazine Articles & more

Item Information


		Booklist Review
		Choice Review
		Library Journal Review
		More Content

	More by this author
		Fraser, Flora.

	Subjects
		Washington, George, 1732-1799 -- Marriage.
		Washington, Martha, 1731-1802 -- Marriage.
		Presidents -- United States -- Biography.
		Presidents' spouses -- United States -- Biography.
		Generals -- United States -- Biography.
		Generals' spouses -- United States -- Biography.
		United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Biography.

	Browse Catalog
		by author:
		Fraser, Flora.

		by title:
		The Washingtons : Ge...

		by call number:
		973.41 W318f

	Search the Web
		Fraser, Flora.
		Washington, George, 1732-1799 -- Marriage.
		Washington, Martha, 1731-1802 -- Marriage.
		Presidents -- United States -- Biography.
		Presidents' spouses -- United States -- Biography.
		Generals -- United States -- Biography.
		Generals' spouses -- United States -- Biography.
		United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Biography.


	MARC Display

The Washingtons : George and Martha, "join'd by friendship, crown'd by love" / Flora Fraser.

by Fraser, Flora.

View full image

Alfred A. Knopf, 2015.

Washington, George, 1732-1799 -- Marriage.

Washington, Martha, 1731-1802 -- Marriage.

Presidents -- United States -- Biography.

Presidents' spouses -- United States -- Biography.

Generals -- United States -- Biography.

Generals' spouses -- United States -- Biography.

United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Biography.

9780307272782 (hc.)

9780307474438 (pbk.)

xviii, 440 pages, 24 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 25 cm

Maps on lining papers.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 413-419) and index.

Book one: The colonel and his lady, 1758-1775 -- Colonial colonel -- Dandridge's daughter -- North and south -- Mount Vernon, Fairfax County -- Family affairs -- Acts and associations -- Fevers and physicians -- The schooling of Jacky Custis -- Death and adjustment -- Continental Army -- Book two: The general and "Lady Washington", 1775-1783 -- Taking command, 1775 -- Besieging Boston, 1775-1776 -- New York and Philadelphia, 1776 -- Retreat to the Delaware, 1776-1777 -- Morristown and Brandywine, 1777 -- Valley Forge, 1777-1778 -- Philadelphia and Middlebrook, New Jersey, 1778-1779 -- The hard winter: Morristown, 1779-1780 -- Home and headquarters, 1780-1781 -- Victory on the York and private grief, 1781 -- Uncertainty and disaffection, 1781-1783 -- Peace on the Hudson, 1783 -- Book three: After the war, 1784-1802 -- Mount Vernon, 1784-1786 -- Conventions and elections, 1787-1789 -- New York houses, 1789-1790 -- Market Street, Philadelphia, 1790-1793 -- Second term, 1793-1797 -- Retirement, 1797-1798 -- The death of a president, 1799 -- Dissolution, 1799-1802.

"The Washingtons' long union begins in colonial Virginia in 1759, when George Washington woos and weds Martha Dandridge Parke Custis, a pretty, charming, and very rich young widow. The calm early years of their marriage as plantation owners at Mount Vernon and as parents to Martha's two children, Jacky and Patsy - both of whom present difficult challenges - yield to harsher times. Washington has been prominent among Virginians in opposing British government measures, and at the outbreak of fighting in 1775 he is elected commander-in-chief of the Continental army. The war sees Martha resolutely supporting her husband, sharing in the hardships at Valley Forge and other wretched winter headquarters. Essential to George's personal well-being, she is known as "Lady Washington" - a redoubtable and vastly admired figure in her own right. Flora Fraser provides us with a brilliant account of the public Washington and of the war he waged, and gives us, as well, the domestic Washingtons, whether at Mount Vernon before and during the war or in New York and Philadelphia during his presidency. Even in wartime, Martha manages to scour Philadelphia to find a doll for her newest granddaughter and keeps careful control of her Virginia inheritance. George grapples with a formidable enemy, without proper troops and often without basic supplies - his soldiers frequently lack rations, blankets, even shoes - while always fearful for his wife's welfare and safety, given the constant worry that the British might descend on Mount Vernon. Even so, a true Virginian, he manages to dance for more than three hours with Alexander Hamilton's pretty young wife at a makeshift ball. With victory and the arrival of peace in 1783, the Washingtons hope to remain at home, a hope dashed when, in 1789, George is elected our first president and Martha becomes a faultless first First Lady. During the presidency, they together negotiate the many pitfalls of establishing republican entertainment - the weekly "Congress dinner" levées, and drawing rooms - before, finally free of official responsibilities after Washington's second term, they are at last able to retreat to their beloved Mount Vernon. A story of a remarkable pair as well as a gripping narrative of the birth of a nation. Flora Fraser is author of Beloved Emma: The Life of Emma, Lady Hamilton; The Unruly Queen: The Life of Queen Caroline; Princesses: The Six Daughters of George III; and Pauline Bonaparte: Venus of Empire. She lives in London"--Provided by publisher.

Horizon Information Portal 3.24_8902M

© 2001-2013 SirsiDynix All rights reserved.

Horizon Information Portal