Book excerpt: In Reds, The St. Patricks Battalion, the author weaves the story of a family that migrates from Ireland to colonize Texas, at the time when American settlers fought to secede from the Mexican Federation to become a nation that ultimately joins the Unites States, event that kindles the war against Mexico. Cantu offers us in a superb novel, the saga that involves a battalion of soldiers mostly Irishmen who fought with the Mexican troops against the American invaders, shedding light on historical myths such as the legend of The lamo, and on the reasons why Mexico, in losing the war, lost half its territory to the United States.