Prelude to Glory, Vol. 8: A More Perfect Union

Prelude to Glory #8

by Ron Carter

The surrender of British General Charles Cornwallis and his entire army to the United States at Yorktown, Virginia, on October 19, 1781, stunned the world. The thirteen-foundling United States had won their impossible revolution. They could not know that their victory was but a shifting from a war with musket and cannon to one with tariffs and border disputes. With the country sinking into bankruptcy, the leaders in the thirteen states Come together, or America is doomed. May, 1787, fifty-five desperate men met in Independence Hall, Philadelphia. For more than four months they sweated in a sealed room and harangued and debated and compromised. The Constitution they produced established a government like none since the dawn of time, and changed the world forever. A More Perfect Union tells the story of that government's creation.

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

560 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2004

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

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved these books. We have them on audio and were able to listen to them as we drove across the country on our summer vacation...sometimes we didn't want to "get there" so that we could hear more of the story. They were so interesting as it told the story of the beginnings of our country.

[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.

[Danesa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I learned more about the creation of the constitution in this book than I ever did in history class. I had no idea it took 4 months to create it!

I love the story line of the characters, the adventure to find the youngest brother in British occupied Bahamas. A wedding that you never thought would happen. Overall I liked this book just as much as the others in this series.

[Teri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent American History series! Highly recommend! The historical parts are accurate as well, which I appreciated. See my reviews on other volumes for more.

One thing I like about this author is that he will describe things from the point of view of the character, hence the character doesn't have 20/20 hindsight, like the reader does, so there are times I'd catch myself thinking "wait, that's not what really happened..." or something like that, and then I'd have to stop and catch myself and remember, this is the CHARACTER's opinion/viewpoint, and they don't know yet that such-and-such is about to happen, which will then change their mind/experience/persepctive/etc. Sure enough, when such-and-such happened in the book, the character would change course, and "history as we know it" keeps going down the right track.

Haha! So there's no "back to the future" going on here. Ha!

[Rex Cluff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I gave this volume a lesser rating, that does not detract from the value of the text. This volume was less engaging than the others because it dealt with more factual history of the making of the Constitution of the Unites States. Mr. Carter quoted liberally from the actual Convention debates. It was highly valuable to get a glimpse into the procedure and struggles that brought about the Constitution. The fictional story line suffered as a result but was still woven into the fabric of the events. The series, as a whole was specifically stated to show forth the many miracles that brought our country into existence and the founding of the Constitution, no less than the Revolutionary War itself, was guided by Providence and was miraculous in its conception.

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

The U.S. Constitution is finally written after a grueling summer of arguments, politics, tempers, etc., a
document that was guided by the hand of the Lord was assembled, put together and then work began to get 9 of the 13 states to ratify it and make it our Constitution. Fascination to read the dialogue that went on over the debate regarding the states, their sizes, their rights and all making sure there wasn't one tyrannical leader that was in charge but to give us checks and balances and a vote of the people to decide who our leaders are. It is a bit scary though, to see how our politicians are acting today, they need to read the debate/discussions of those Constitution writers and remember why they are serving in their respective office.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the 8th in the series Prelude to Glory. This one was a few years after the Revolutionary War. It is about the founders of the Constitution meeting to present different views on what was needed for a new nation. It took 8 weeks of argument back and forth to finally come up with the document. Then each of the states were asked to ratify it to become the law of the land. It was interesting to see what points they brought up and thoughts of the large populous states always voting different than the small states. The thoughts and prayers that went into this is amazing. Then the thought was, it passed, can we keep this freedom and liberty?

[Leslie Lamb · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was the hardest of the series for me to get thru. There was a lot of the book going over where 55 men were writing the new constitution. It took 4 months in a hot room. Lots of heated discussions and opposition. It was necessary and important and got more interesting as it got to the end. In the book Billy and Bridget finally tie the knot and have a lovely wedding. Kathleen has her baby which turns out to be twin girls!!!

[Melanie Forbush · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book reviews the Constitutional Convention during the summer of 1787, I believe, after the Articles of Confederation failed and a new form of government was needed. Otherwise the Union would have disbanded or been divided into separate countries. It concludes as ten states ratify it. In between, Rob Carter concludes the story of the Dunson family. It is beautifully written, but not my favorite book of the series. Thus I gave it three stars.

[Ralph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I gave the last couple of volumes 3 stars for being overly abridged and noted 4 stars on content. This time this volume gets 4 stars on content with this note that the abridgement is 3 stars. I have really enjoyed the listening to the series. We have the books at home and I would have rather had the audio being a few more hours long but complete, but such is not the case.

[John Worthington · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series. This book was about the writing of the constitution in Philadelphia. Interspersed was the story of our favorite characters from books 1-7. If you are interested in the history of the constitution read this book.

[Hilaree · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably 2nd or 3rd least favorite. He does a great job with the constitutional convention but the rest is rushed and the deep connection isn't there like in the first 3 books or any of the books with fighting.

[Kristie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learning lots

[Joanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Confession: I skimmed the chapters that covered the Constitutional Convention, which I’m already familiar with. But reading this book would have been a good way to study it the first time.

[Danni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Impressed with the founding fathers.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

A narrative history of how the constitution was made. The debates and retelling of the convention were tedious to read. Great for the historical context but a boring historical novel.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read most of this series almost 20 years ago and decided to finish the series now that I found it on audio. These historical fiction books are a great way to learn about the founding of the USA and are simple (and exciting) enough that a 12 year old could enjoy them.

Listened on audio (Deseret Bookshelf).

[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.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this volume of the Prelude to Glory series, Ron Carter gives information about the Constitutional Convention and much of the dialogue between the players as they learn to make the compromises necessary to replace the Articles of Confederation with the Constitution. A lot more details about what the actual concerns were about some of the issues than I had ever seen anywhere else. At times a bit dry, but fascinating from a historical perspective.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harder to read than the other in the series simply because there is a lot of reading that comes directly from the documents that were debated to create the US Constitution. The 18th Century leagal jargin is a little hard to follow- you may even need a dictionary! Otherwise, just as good as the others in the series

[Karma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually read all 9 volumes. However, volume 8 was the most fascinating. It goes into great depth on the making of the constitution but still keeps your interest as you follow the lives of a fictional family throughout.

[Joseph · Rating 1 out of 5]

You'd think that a gut who can perfectly capture the battles of this war should be able to make the constitutional convention at least a little interesting. It can't be done. The convention gets so incredibly boring. It's excruciating

[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.

[Karina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably my least favorite of the series. The only thing interesting about it was reading about the Grand Convention, and seeing how the Constitution came about. But even much of that was very boring, I'm not a political person, so much of that did not interest me.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

All of the previous books take you through the years of the war and I loved reading them but once you get to this book it is them building the constitution and to me kind of boring. So I have not finished reading it yet but plan to struggle through it to finish it soon.

[Garry Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was by far the most interesting of the series. It dealt with the details of the constitutional convention. Then in the Epilog it quickly enumerated the major battles of the revolution.

Of the 8 books I've read in this series this one was my favorite.

[Kira · Rating 5 out of 5]

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

[Madeline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one and the 9th slowed down for me But they were still good reads.

[Beve · Rating 5 out of 5]

We let someone borrow this book and we never got it back. If someone want to sell a volume 8 "A more perfect union" let us know. It is out of print!

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still liked the book technically speaking. There just wasn't enough of the fictional characters. I felt like I was watching 18th century CSPAN most of the time.