By Helen Bryan. ISBN 0-471-15892-5.  Copyright 2002.  Hardcover with 417 pages.

Meet one of the best known and least understood figures of the American Revolution as you’ve never seen her before. Traditionally portrayed as an amiable hostess and the loyal companion of America’s greatest hero, Martha Washington emerges in this surprising biography as a complex, intelligent, and capable woman who played a pivotal role in the founding of a nation. This reappraisal of America’s First lady explores how “the Widow Custis” met the challenges of running a huge plantation, examines her whirlwind courtship with the young George Washington, and reveals that the status he gained through their marriage was key to his appointment as commander of the Continental Army.