Prelude to Glory, Vol. 9: By the Dawn's Early Light

Prelude to Glory #9

by Ron Carter

Prelude to Glory- Volume 9

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Fiction, Lds Fiction, Religion, Lds, Novels

608 pages, Hardcover

First published July 9, 2010

About the author

Ron Carter (1932-2008) was born in Salt Lake City and reared in Twin Falls, Idaho. He served received a bachelor’s degree in industrial management from Brigham Young University. He received a juris doctor degree in 1962 after attending the law schools at George Washington University and the University of Utah. Recently he has been a research and writing director for the Superior Court system of Los Angeles County, California. He published his first work in 1988.

Ron is married to LaRae Dunn Carter of Boise, Idaho, and they are the parents of nine children. The family resides in Park City, Utah.

Reviews

[Brayden Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book. It brings a time in history that is not often learned to life. The characters and the stories are inspired as always. In God we trust.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally finished this fictional series about the founding of the USA, thanks to Deseret Bookshelf (audio books). I liked it better back in the 1990’s; now I am more interested in nonfiction. But highly recommended for teenagers learning about the founding of our country!

[Teri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent series and highly recommend! I especially recommend this series to high school and college students - because our schools and universities do a terrible job of teaching correct history (meaning, history that has not been rewritten by today's globalists who are doing their best to crush any patriotism in people - but that's a story for another day - I digress...)

The historical parts of this series are 99% on spot. So I don't worry at all about "incorrect history". It's all pretty accurate.

Characters are real and almost 3D. You feel as if you're there, watching these things happen as by stander. This particular volume didn't go into as much detail as I would have loved, especially considering it deals with the Battle at Ft McHenry and the Star Spangled Banner. In fact, this volume is the shortest in the series with less than 20 chapters!

I thoroughly enjoyed the entire series. Great books and accurate info, warm relatable characters and entertaining so that you don't get bored reading.

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic series on the Revolutionary War - the establishment of the United States, how the constitution and Bill of Rights came to be as well as "The Star Spangle Banner" - I learned more from these books about the United States early history than I did in school. From the tough times and experiences of the start of this nation proves that the hand of God was in all the setting up as the book series showed the many miracles that happened to enable all that was accomplished to happen. Was a very well written and quite enlightening series and I felt like I knew each member in the series and was sad when they died and very sad when the series was done and I didn't have that connection any more. Grateful that I took the time to read this complete series.

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been the best 9 book series I have ever read!

It has been an educational, true learning experience. I didn't realize how little I knew about Revolutionary war and how long it lasted or how many lives were lost. The notes at the end of each chapter were so good. I loved this set of books so much I would recommend this series & Ron Carter to everyone who loves to read fiction & history. I am a 76 yr.old widow & partially handicapped so reading has been wonderful for me. I finished this 9 book series in 7 weeks on my Kindle Fire. Thank you so much!! Karen Stoddard.

[Danesa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The concluding book, I was not expecting it to be further in the future with the War of 1812. I had no idea that 9/11/1814, is when we beat the British at Baltimore and when the National Anthem was born. I knew the National Anthem came from a battle but didn't realize it was that battle. I also didn't know there was quick battle in New Orleans, which concluded the War of 1812. Maybe I learned in history but don't recall it. I learned a lot, but the family characters I got lost. I would have been nice to have a book in between to follow the family a little better to lead up to where this book began. Overall a good read.

[Rex Cluff · Rating 5 out of 5]

The culmination of the nine volume series. This takes on the topic of the war of 1812 and how America finally through off the yolk of Great Britain. Again, the states were out numbered and out gunned but through Providence and British mistakes, we prevailed. The family that is the focus of the story has its own resolution as the matriarch dies and the children and grandchildren all come back together. One heroic character dies in the conflict which was a surprise. Overall, I was enthralled by the story and the history of the series. I recommend it to all.

[Leslie Lamb · Rating 4 out of 5]

The battle of 1812 happened when the British were not being peaceful with the Americans although we were no longer at war. The final war happened when Andrew Jackson pardoned the infamous Lafitte and his 1000 men. They agreed to fight with the Americans as well as give us food and weapons we needed. The war end w/ 3200 casualties for the British and only 13 Americans casualties!! Talk about a miracle!!!

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the last book in this 9 book series about the Revolutionary War, the years trying to get the states to ratify the constitution and be one nation, then the other wars later on with Britain who were still trying to take over America. I really liked the series and how at the end of each chapter, told what in the chapter was authentic, people, places, things said, and things that went on.

[Ralph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed the series very much. A great review of history. Putting it more in story form helps me to remember it better. It was a good distinguishable mix of history and fiction. The individual books I rated lower but as a series, it hits the five star mark.

[Kristie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great series to teach you the history of the USA American Revolution, etc.

[Danni · Rating 4 out of 5]

what an incredible country I live in.

[Carolyn Cannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Fictional family during the Revolutionary War.

[Hilaree · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like 3.5

[Michelle Llewellyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Published in 2005, I remember how surprised I was finding this volume at my local Deseret Book as I thought Ron Carter wrapped up the story quite nicely in Vol. 8. Was a ninth volume really necessary?
As I write this in the year 2015, after revisiting the series, (ten years later) I got my answer.
No, it wasn't.
Nineteen years have passed since we last saw the Dunson family. Matthew, Kathleen, Billy and Bridgette are empty nesters. Matthew's son, John, is all grown up and guess who he married? Laura Stroud, Eli's little daughter. Eli (now age 55) is enjoying his retirement in the wilderness of Ohio. Adam and Caleb are married and their mother, Margaret, is still alive and kicking.
Therein lies the problem with the plot of this book: everyone who participated in the events of the Revolutionary War, bringing the reader along for the exciting ride, is now too old to participate in the War of 1812 and the author seems to be doing his best to leave his fictional characters out as much as possible.
He tries to include Caleb, John and even Adam in some of the skirmishes, plot complications and navel battles but the War of 1812 is just a footnote to the more famous war of independence.
Eli, the token Indian, acts as ambassador but it's clear his "Batman" days of spying on the enemy and undertaking dangerous missions with Billy as "Robin" are over.
Then Ron Carter commits an unforgiveable sin: he kills off a major character in chapter 22 and hardly anyone blinked. There was no send off, no closure, no reactions from any family and friends.
Then we get chapter 24, the only significant story of interest to Americans concerning the War of 1812 as this is where our beloved national anthem originated. It is a poignant and touching story yet...
Ron Carter could not have made such important events more boring.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last two books in this series were not nearly as good as the others. I knew virtually nothing about the war of 1812 and after reading about 1812 and 1813 I thought, "Well, there's a reason I don't know anything about this war. We're trying to forget it!" But after reading about the battle at Baltimore and then the last battle in New Orleans I was disappointed that I hadn't learned more about it in school. Regular people drew together to protect their cities and their families against the greatest military power in the world, one of us for every 4 of them, and under the heaviest gunfire to date (when the book was written anyway) they didn't raise the white flag - they raised an American flag so big it could be seen for 14 miles.
I will strongly suggest that my children read this entire series (even the last two books). It was a fun way to learn history that was surprisingly accurate. I gained a new respect for this country and the people that lived during the revolutionary war and the war of 1812. I also know that this country couldn't have won those wars without Heavenly Father.

[Marissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't believe this is the last book in the series. I think the author should just keep going. He's really good. This one is about the War of 1812. I kind of wish that he had split that war into 2 books and done a book between this one and the 8th book to fill in the gap of the birth of our nation. There's so much history. You can't just skip Washington, Adams, Jefferson and start from 1811 when you ended at 1787. Not only do you skip so much national history during those years, but you miss so much of the character's lives and stories. You get so confuse when they're 40 in this book to when they were 25 in the other. Too much of a jump. Oh, well. That's the only two bad things I can say about this series.

Like I said, it's really good. This series helps to bridge the gap from common knowledge or history class knowledge to facts and the actual history. I highly recommend this series. It really helps to understand today if you can understand the past.

[Karina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was making myself finish reading this book because I couldn't read the other 8 books in the series and not finish the last one, especially since it has taken me a few years to get through these books. Finally when I was a bit more than halfway through this one, I decided it just wasn't worth my time. I'll just google the subject of this book to see the result...

I give this series 3 stars. It wasn't terribly written, but I wasn't really a fan of any of the characters of the fictional family, and I didn't love reading about all the details of war. Usually the fictional characters are what keep me going through these historical fiction, but not in this case. There was definitely a lot of history, so that was good, but too much detail for my personal taste. So glad I'm done with these!!

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I agree with some of the other reviews on this book that it was a little harder to read than the others in the series, in that it contained a lot more history and less fictional characters. However, if you hang in there with his reasons for including the history, it makes the last 1/3rd of the book riviting. It continues to amaze me, the more I learn, just how precious a gift our freedom really is, and the tremendous price that was paid to gain it. The ending is fantastic, and I am still reeling to try and picture a flag as big as the one that was raised when Frances Scott Key penned the words to our national anthem. It's truly inspiring. This whole series is definitely worth reading.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this final volume of the Prelude to Glory series, Carter takes us through the War of 1812. Heavy on the history and lighter on the story (which made it a bit more difficult to read) this book was filled with details around the battles of the War of 1812 that I was not familiar with. Once again, the reader learns of how close we were to not being successful in our fight to be an independent nation. Sadly, this book shows how politics began to creep more into the picture and how decisions were being made that were not necessarily wisest and best, but because they were politically most expedient in the election of specific parties and individuals.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the audio book and realized it was abridged. It was too much abridged because I felt it was choppy and didn’t flow well. It was hard to get into it and there wasn’t much character development. It still had battle scenes though. I might need to read the book.

October 2021, I finished reading the book. Much better flow. Like the rest of the series there were parts that were long and tedious. It was well thought out and interesting to learn from the research the author did about the war.

[Jenifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading this whole series because it allowed me to learn much more about our countries beginnings than I ever learned in school--but I enjoyed it this time. A fictional family and their friends make the journey through the revolutionary war and on into the establishment of the United States government and the rough economic times that followed the war. Book 9 jumps ahead in time to the war of 1812.

[Kathi Salter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a 9 book historical fiction series about the Revolutionary War. It is written very well. His writing style is very similar to Gerald Lund's writing style. It gave me even greater respect for our Founding Fathers and all the brave men and women that helped to give us the freedoms we enjoy today. Don't forget to read the footnotes for interesting information.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun series with a great mix of well researhed history of the US Revolutionary War (with footnotes) and fictional personal items to bring the story to life. The fictional characters are well placed to bring the story out.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book seemed an after-thought when the series was already wrapped up. A bit disappointing, it seemed as if the author's heart wasn't really in this project, he didn't seem to care to create emotions in the reader as with the last books.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the last in the series about the American Revolution. Overall, I would rate the series 4 stars, but this volume was not as good as some of the others. When I die I want to meet George Washington.

[Verona · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hated to see this series come to an end. I have enjoyed these books tremendously. I have gained a new appreciation for America and its leaders and learned so much detail about the American Revolutionary War period.

[Danica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this last book was a little hard to get through. I enjoyed the first 8 better. All in all, it was a good series.

[Kira · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series was so amazing to help me grasp the feel for the Revolutionary War.

[Karma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volume 9 puts the constitution to work. It made me realize how much work there was still to be done even after the constitution was written.