Faith of Our Fathers: To Make Men Free

Faith of Our Fathers #2

by N.C. Allen, Nancy Campbell Allen, Marvin Payne (Narrator)

Battles rage as passions on the home front fill the heart of every American citizen. The Civil War progresses in tragic intensity as the Birmingham saga continues-two brothers, along with their families and loved ones, divided in their loyalties between North and South. In an effort to learn the truth about the war, reporter Anne Birmingham continues her charade as a soldier. But how long can she risk her life in battle, even as she hides her true identity?

Emily Birmingham is wracked with conflicting emotions by the opportunity to free her beloved friends — will it come at the cost of her own dreams and desires?

Meanwhile, emotions run high in the Western region as the citizens of the Utah Territory find themselves embroiled in a struggle for statehood, constantly denied them because of their beliefs and way of life.

From border to border and coast to coast, emotions and blood ties are strained as the young nation continues to rend itself at the seams.

To Make Men Free — volume two of the best-selling epic series Faith of Our Fathers — further explores this watershed event in American history and its dramatic impact on the lives of millions — young and old, faithful and skeptic, slave and free.

An unabridged recording on 9 CDs (approx 10.5 hours).

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

11 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Also published under the name Nancy Campbell Allen

Reviews

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome series! Loved the love story and learning more about this horrible war.
2-2-17 Listening to the audio version. The reader is still making this tough, his Charleston Heston voice is tough to listen to especially during the romance scenes. This book makes it clear that the North had awful generals, while the south had some amazing ones. If the war had only lasted two years the north would have lost, but because the north had the resources we hung in there. The south was already mostly poor, 80% poor people and 20% rich do not make a good fighting force. So many of the south's soldiers suffered and gave up while the North could fight for years. Just a good piece of history without endless gory battles and just important information instead of pages and pages of tactical stuff. Allen knows how to write history the way I like it.

[Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Faith of our Fathers: To Make Men Free by N.C. Allen is a story that portrays the Civil War through varied eyes. Allen does a great job inserting her characters into the realistic era at the time. An example is when the Birmingham family finds out their daughter/sister, Anne, wasn’t actually in Chicago, writing for a newspaper, but had faked her identity to enlist in the Union Army to get a firsthand experience of what the war was like. Anne’s aunt, Jenny, mentions “Amazingly enough, both armies have behaved with extreme chivalry when finding female enlistees.”

My star rating for this book is 5 out of 5 stars because, although it is not perfect, it seems to be an accurate representation of what could have happened to families during that time. I would not recommend this to just anyone, as it does have some of what we consider derogatory terms, but were completely fine back then. Instead, I would recommend this to anyone interested in the Civil War, whether it’s about what people thought, where the battles took place, or how it can relate to our world today.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book jumped right into the action of the civil war and moved at a much steadier pace than the first book. My only reason for not giving it 5 stars is that I felt there were too many character stories the author was trying to tell that it was hard to fully become emotionally invested. A few characters deaths could have been more developed to create an emotional connection with the reader. That being said I couldn’t put it down and read it in a few hours.

[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.)

[Kenner C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Faith of Our Fathers: To Make Men Free by N.C. Allen is the second book in a four book series. To Make Men Free is about the Civil War like the first book and continues the story. Unlike the first book the reality of death is more prominent in this book. I really like this series so far, and this book specifically in the series is better than the first due to not having to have character building. I like how this book accurately shows what the Civil War was like. Having families and friends fighting each other was a common occurrence during the civil war. The one downside to this book was that it didn't have the character list in the front of the book to explain who was who like the first book had and it made it difficult to remember who each character was. The book as a whole I really enjoy reading, I like the realism and the attention to detail that is illustrated in this book.

[Charity Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

My opinion of volume 2 is much better than volume 1. So many things have happened in this volume that got me so emotionally involved. There were moments I had to put the book down so I could cry for happiness and frustration.

I am only halfway through the series and I am struggling on what to do next. Start the next one or give myself an emotional break and read something more light-hearted. If you are wanting a good civil war historical to read, then look no further.

[Rorie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I could devour this entire series in a short time, but I'm trying to make it last longer. The author does a great job at bringing all of the characters to life, as well having the reader go through all the emotions each character is going through. I found myself wanting certain stories to continue, then getting upset when the author would switch to one of the other characters...only to get frustrated when that story was paused, too! Definitely a great series.

[Rex Cluff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a worthy sequel to volume one. It takes the family drama into 1863 and sets the stage for more drama to come. It is an easy read but entertaining. The family is diverse enough to include many details of the Civil War (an ironic oxymoron) to instill a sense of history into the novel.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book of the Civil War is fiction, but there is a lot of gory history. I enjoy the stories of the families. Anyone who likes to read about history will like reading this book. It's the second book in the series, there are two more books to go.

[Laurie D'ghent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written, but I liked the first book in the series better. Some swearing

[Cherri · Rating 3 out of 5]

How many women did fight as men in the Civil war? Anne is revealed at the end, Marie finds Daniel, house fire and business fire, proposed to as house burns.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy the story with the history.

[Vickie · Rating 5 out of 5]

To live through an experience like the Civil War - wow!

[Sabra Ann Rasmussen · Rating 4 out of 5]

good can't wait for the next book

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historical fiction during Civil War with LDS perspectives. Engaging and interesting story.

[Trulee Goble · Rating 5 out of 5]

This bok exceeds the second in that I already knew the characters so I could just watch their lives unfold. She does such a wonderful job of fleshing out her characters and letting the reader know them inside and out.

[A. R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I looked at a couple reviews of this book before I started reading it and was really hopeful that it would have more 'umph' than the first book. In my opinion, it did, but barely.

Again I loved the historical element of the book. I don't remember much about studying the civil war in school and have been fascinated by what I am learning about our countries history while enjoying a good fictional story as well. It amazed me that the Union won the war when I read about the early battles and the questionable decisions of Union generals.

New characters were introduced that I liked, and I was glad to see that at least one of the "politically correct" storylines was heading toward the sensibilities of the time era and not adopting 21st century ideals. I still had problems with forced foreshadowing...I'm not sure a reader is supposed to know when they read something at the beginning of a chapter that by the end of the chapter it would be an important fact that needed flushed out. Does that makes sense?

I still felt little emotion in the book. When characters die, it's just not moving. And I didn't care for the Utah storyline at all. Perhaps because I am not from Utah, or because I don't see the tie in between the civil war and Utah history. I just think it is unnecessary. I do appreciate that the Mormon settlers of Utah were discriminated against. I just don't see how it relates to this story. And on the 'Mormon' element of the story...why is it that we can't just have a character who happens to be Mormon without having conversion stories thrown in. For the most part, Allen keeps the civil war part of the story on track. But when a sudden baptism is thrown in for good measure, it takes me completely out of the time and history. I'm not saying that kind of thing didn't happen, but to me it feels like the LDS portions of the story were put in to secure an LDS publisher or audience.

That being said, I am moving on to volume 3. I am interested enough in the characters and the war story to see this through.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this series the first time a few years ago but just recently picked up the fourth book...as I started to read the the book, I realized I had forgotten most of the happenings in the previous book! So, I just decided to start from the beginning again. I love historical fiction and this series is pretty good. I occasionally found myself wanting to skip over the details of some of the political maneuvering because the details seemed a little tedious (probably more because I was trying to hurry to get to the 4th) but it was somewhat educational and fun to read. The story itself kept me wanting to read to find out what happens to the characters. The entire 4 book series is good and light reading. One thing to note, there are a couple elements to the books regarding scenes of war and slave treatment (especially of a particular female character) that could be a little disturbing to younger readers so, even though the books are easy reading, I would say wait until you read it yourself before recommending it to a youngster.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars, I enjoyed this second book SO MUCH more than the first. I mean, the first book was necessary - it sets the stage, it introduces all the characters (remember how there are about a million?), but I tell you what, that first was a chore to get through. This one was a pleasure and made the first book worth it. There wasn't that 'getting into it' stage, I was into it right from the beginning. There are about 10 different story lines going on and I loved all of them - which is rare I think. Can't WAIT to read the next one. I didn't give it five stars because there's just something about this series that I can't put my finger on... it's too... idealistic maybe? Doesn't seem authentic or real... maybe? A lot of the characters seem too modern in their way of thinking? I don't know, it's very compelling, we're getting to learn all the details of the Civil War and read an amazing story at the same time... but, still, something's bothering me that I can't quite put into words. Nevertheless, wonderful exciting book, loved it.

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

I hoped that my complaints about the first book in the series (so many different characters and perspectives introduced that it was hard to keep straight and feel invested) would not apply to the later books and I'm glad to say that was true. The first book was a lot of set up for the rest of the series and in this book we were really able to enjoy the meat of the story and seeing the characters storylines intersect. I found all the storylines really interesting and was invested in the characters plights and really felt for them when they experienced the many pains of war. There are several interesting and touching relationships throughout the story- involving families, friendships, and romance. I have learned a lot about the Civil War and I am very interested to see where the rest of the series goes!

[Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book continues the fine tradition of the first book, telling a wonderful story amidst historical events. I think I am drawn to these stories because of the strong women characters, who have both admirable qualities and foibles. They seem like real friends to me. I can't wait to see how the story turns out. It is also interesting to note how a country at war with itself conducts itself. The accounts of both sides helping the wounded, regardless of who they were fighting for, are both heroic and sad. It is sad that so many had to lose their lives over an issue that seems clear as day to me: the equality of man.

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars really. The first half of the book was a little slow for me. I felt the same way about book 1. However, about half way through the book, I was hooked. From that point on, I couldn't put it down because I wanted to find out how everything would come together. I still feel like it's hard to follow the battles and different historical characters/places for the civil war. I don't really know anything about the war and at times I feel like this makes it harder for me to follow the book. I loved the couple of cliff hangers at the end of the book and I'll be starting book 3 soon!

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

SOOOOOOO good. There are a lot of characters - but I am so attached to each and every one of them ... I can't imagine history without them. I was a HUGE fan of "Gone With the Wind" - and this series is right down that alley.

[Thom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think part of the reason I enjoyed this one more than the first was simply because I knew the characters already. It wasn't nearly as confusing because I didn't have tons of characters to remember. That, and several of the stories began to combine, so it was easier to follow in that sense too. Definitely a series worth continuing.

[Micki Hughes-zitar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book picked up where the first one left off. It continues the story of the birmingham families as the Civil War continues. It ends just before Gettysburg. It is one that I could not put down. The love stories that are intertwined into this book continue and become more real. There are many surprises in store with this one. I am anxious to finish this series.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am thoroughly enjoying these books. I finally have all the characters straight, and I'm too interested in what is happening to them to pay attention to what is going on in the Civil War! This book is full of history and I really appreciate the author's notes about what is true and what she had to alter to make the story line work.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm still enjoying the series. It's still hard to keep track of all the characters, though, and even the fictional elements of the story are pretty predictable, but I don't really mind (I suppose I don't read historical fiction for the unexpected twists). I also think that the little sprinkles of Utah/Mormon history seem out of place, but I guess it is a Mormon book.

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 2nd book in the Faith of our Fathers series picks up the pace significantly because it doesn't take more than a hundred pages just to introduce all the characters. As the war gets more dire I think the story gets more interesting, and in many ways the characters even more relatable and likable. This is a really good book. 8/10

[Mzford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Allen knows how to create tension with believable situations. Her characters breathe and struggle with their relationships set in historical background. I appreciated gaining greater understanding of the North/South conflict during the Civil War. Gone With the Wind has long been one of my favorite novels, but this series lets us see it from both sides.

[Neal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am liking this series. I'm enjoying the mix of characters and their interaction with each other and historical events. If there is a down side it would be that there are too many characters and story lines. I find myself forgetting who some are or where they fit when the author returns to them. Having said that it has been a good read.