Faith of Our Fathers: Through the Perilous Fight

Faith of Our Fathers #3

by N.C. Allen, Nancy Campbell Allen

Set against the dramatic backdrop of the Civil War, the moving saga of the Birmingham family continues as the clash between North and South forces generations of family members to examine their personal and political loyalties. After surviving harrowing battles together, cousins Ben and Luke Birmingham are dispatched by the Union army to New York City to quell rioting draft protestors. Violence spills into the streets of the teeming city, and the assignment proves to be more life-threatening than the battlefield.

As the war scars the nation, it demands more from the family, and Luke's younger brother Robert is drawn into the Union cause and must fight against the odds for survival. Meanwhile, Anne Birmingham struggles with the reality that Ivar Gunderson, the man who saved her life, will most likely die in Andersonville prison unless she can find a way to free him. Can she rely on her family to help with her plan to rescue the man she loves?

Volume three of the Faith of Our Fathers series journeys with the Birmingham family through time and place-The South, the North, and into the West, through a war that both tears them apart and brings them back together. An epic worthy of the most pivotal event in American history, Through the Perilous Fight is a story of survival, acceptance, and love — of a family finding where its true strength lies.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Lds Fiction, Lds, Religion, Historical, Fiction, War

448 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2003

About the author

Also published under the name Nancy Campbell Allen

Reviews

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing series! 14 and up.
2-10-17 Listening to this has not been as fun as reading them and I recommend reading these. This book brought about many conclusions and almost endings of story lines. But the war is not over and there is still one book left. I have realized that there is a lot of Drama in these stories, something always going wrong in the lives of these characters. It is a crazy time in history and so many awful things were happening so it is still believable and not silly. There is one thing that is getting to me and that is the repeated mention of all they have been threw, each time we change points of view we have a little recap and it gets old. I can't even count how many times they talked about what happened with Mary and Richard. It was over done and over stated. Overall a good third book. One of my favorite stories of Ann and Ivar gets resolved:}

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story was intriguing, but it was hard to visualize how many were killed. Some were slaughtered because they were black.






It was a very sad war, brother against brother. Many of the boys had never left their farms and they didn't even know they were fighting for. It was really strange how many Generals were not prepared for battle. But I guess that was war, very ugly. The author is a good storyteller.

[Rorie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great addition to the Faith of our Fathers series. I had a hard time putting this down, and didn't want it to come to an end. I need to hurry up and get the next book in the series to find out what happens to everyone.

The author does a great job at world-building and bringing each of the characters to life, whether they're major players or more in the background.

[Charity Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume brought more tears and anguish than the previous two volumes. But it also brought a horizon of hope as well. I can’t believe how little I knew about what happened during the Civil War.

If you’re like me when it comes to the war period, then I highly recommend this series.

[Sabra Ann Rasmussen · Rating 5 out of 5]

so good i can't wait for the last book

[Trulee Goble · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't stop! This story is so compelling I need to know how it ends for each character. I love this series!

[Rex Cluff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This fourth volume got off to a good start with some tissue moments but I felt that it wrapped up too quickly. The final 20 pages or so were anticlimactic. Nevertheless, it was a good story and well worth reading.

[A. R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This volume of the Faith of our Fathers series was a total let down. It felt choppy, and rushed. Some of the scenes felt cheesy and contrived...and just plain boring. There was lots of telling and not much showing. By the end, I just wanted to be finished. I still did not care much about what happened to the characters. I still disliked the clumsy foreshadowing. And I really disliked the political correctness of the story. A white man and a black woman may have married back in the day...but I have a hard time swallowing that it was acceptable - even to family. I don't have issues with biracial marriages. What I have an issue with is a historical fiction novel not staying true to it's time period.

Allen tried hard to end the story with a couple cliffhangers to spur the reader on to volume 4, but I have to say that I wasn't spurred. I'm tired of the so-so story telling. And I must admit, that I am fearful that the story will end up in Utah with a typical LDS ending. (This is my issue with LDS fiction...it's always happily ever after with a saccharine, predictable grand finale.) Maybe someday when I have nothing else to read I will finish the series...but not today.

[Darla · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Genre:Historical fiction/LDS) Book 3 out of a series of 4. While I still enjoyed the historical aspects of the novel (& series), I'm beginning to feel a little worn out. There are so many characters and story lines going, and even though they are all intertwined, it is some times distracting. Some characters I like more than others & I find their stories more compelling, so I hate transitioning away to someone less interesting. I also wish that we could delve a little deeper into some of the characters and their adventures and "see" what they think and feel rather than just having the author tell me. Some of the characters are making HUGE changes to their personalities and the author is just telling us about these changes instead of showing us the whys and hows of how it happened. Plus, it feels a little off to have so many characters making such huge changes so fast--like the happy ending was more important than realism. Ah well. It has still been an enjoyable series and I love the historical quotes the author includes at the beginning of each chapter.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book #3 of this Civil War series, I'm really enjoying it (the series that is). Like in the first two there are still things that bother me a bit - it's cheesy and corny in places, all the characters seem to have the exact same personality, and there were some happenings in this one that I found HIGHLY unlikely. But even though that little voice in my head kept saying "THIS IS HIGHLY UNLIKELY!", whatever, I like a happy ending as much as the next person, I enjoyed it. Reading these books is making me want to go read something a little more hard core and really learn about the Civil War - maybe some Jeff Shaara - and then go back and reread this series with a little more knowledge about the history.

I'm surprised there's a fourth book, it seems like most everyone's conflicts were resolved in this one. I'm kind of wondering how there's enough story left to tell to fill up another entire book... but still excited to read it, the war isn't quite over yet.

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book as the drama continues to unfold. SPOILER: This book has the death of my favorite major character as is extremely sad, but you begin to see the real cost of how this war affected families and the nation as a whole.

Only complaint about this book is the cliffhanger ending, I think its kind of a cheap resolution to add drama to Daniel and Camille's storyline. I think it would be okay to say: "okay we're done" with Daniel and Marie's drama, it doesn't feel necessary to make him a volunteer firefighter and a social martyr.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series. The author really makes you feel like you are right there witnessing it yourself. She does such a good job with all the details. The prison camps sounded horrid. I don't know how men survived them. The description of the battles-how many were killed during some of them was in the thousands. Both the North and the South lost many soldiers. Then to read how they dealt with losing limbs. I could hardly put the book down because I just was so into all the characters and events as to what would happen next. Can't wait to read the next volume.

[Andrea Fife · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the Civil War took an increasing toll on the country and the fictional characters, I remained emotionally invested in the story's outcome. I enjoyed the happiness experienced by the characters as they made commitments to their romantic interests, and generally appreciated Allen's efforts to sprinkle in some good with the bad. Although I am LDS myself, I started to feel a bit of an agenda as the topic of religion became more and more prevalent. Interestingly, I didn't think this theme added to the overall historical fiction.

[Lacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun series. While I enjoyed the story lines, the romances, and getting involved with the characters (I cried more than once!), the best part of this series was learning so much about the Civil War. Great books for anyone interested in US history. (Side note: even though they're by an LDS author and there are some of the characters are LDS or investigating the LDS religion, I wouldn't consider these to be LDS books. Anyone could read, understand, and enjoy them thoroughly.)

[Mzford · Rating 4 out of 5]

NC Allen moves the story of several characters along with a swift pen as they endure the trials and tribulations of being in the thick of the Civil War. I find myself having a little difficulty identifying with so many characters with such quick transition from place to place. I just get to feeling "with" them when the scene changes--and I want to see them through to the end! I guess this is a good sign, really, right?

[Mary L.]

Every time I picked it up I found myself reading for a couple of hours. The characters are progressing and some you think are now where they are going to end up but there are three that you just can't wait to find out what has happened to them. I am sure that the others are also going to have some significant things happen to them in Volume 4 (the last volume) also. We are at the time of Sherman's march and it is a pretty awful time to be living through in the southern states.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

3rd book in a 4 book series about the Civil War. I have enjoyed the characters and especially learning more about the Civil War. I appreciate the notes at the end of the book where the author tells us where she has taken liberties and gives us a little more info about important historical events covered in the books.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volume Three of the series. Begins at 1 July 1863 to 27 December 1864. The South can't hold up much longer. Jeffery and Sarah Birmingham have left Charleston knowing their home will soon be burned and are head to Utah with a wagon train. Limbs and lives have been lost but some are returning home to begin lives forever changed by the war.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book more than the previous 2. I finally feel connected to the characters and the story and can't put it down. I could not believe the cliff hanger at the end of the book and I had to start the next one right away just to find out what happened. I'm excited to see how the series will finish!

[Stephanie P (Because My Mother Read) · Rating 4 out of 5]

All wars are extremely sad and disturbing, but I think the Civil War is especially so. There were so many parts of this story that I found so heartbreaking. In reading this book I learned so much about the history of this time and the emotions involved. I became really invested in many of these characters and have been really interested in their journey.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous. I absolutely LOVE this series. I had to run to the library as soon as I finished "Through the Perilous Fight" to grab the next book "One Nation Under God". Thank heavens no one had it on hold - pretty remarkable, actually. Read this series. So good!!

[Rorie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this series. I have always liked reading "historical fiction" because it helps history come to life for me. I learned several things about the war that I didn't know. The story lines were good and kept me interested.

[Kaye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Third in the series. I liked the progress with some of the characters. Makes you sad to think that our country had to go through such turmoil to survive. Had a few civil war stories I wasn't familiar with.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series of 4 books is about the period of the Civil War It tells about the lives of different families in both the North and the South, how they lived before the war, and how things changed during the war. It is so sad how many, many people died in this war. It affected nearly every family.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is more depressing than the others - as we are now learning about such a difficult and drawn-out part of the war. I continue to enjoy the characters and all I am learning about the Civil War. Starting book four tonight ...

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this series on Audio CD and they are so fantastic. They keep you listening for more.. waiting for the next thing to happen. Definatly a great LDS historical read!

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

See my review on book 2.

[Stefie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like these books so much I bought them.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, but not quite as good as the first.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

You could really feel the characters, they became parts of my dreams they just felt so real!