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88Southwestern Historical QuarterlyJuly army by finding the trunk and opening it again. Back in the present, die three keep their adventure a secret. Who, after all, would believe them? The tale could have easily ended there, but thank goodness it did not. Hannah , Nick and Jackie are soon off on anodier adventure, this time to rescue Mr. Barrington (Journey to SanJacinto). The trio is joined by a substitute teacher, the niece of Mr. Barrington, and they are caught up in die events leading to die batde at San Jacinto. Again, Hannah, Nick and Jackie meet historical characters, diis time on both sides of die fighting. They grow with each of their experiences and learn, notjust about history, but about themselves. Melodie Cuate's series, "Mr. Barrington's Mysterious Trunk," is great. The history and historical characters, as far as we can know diem, are right. The human experience is compelling. The fictional trio, Hannah, Jackie and Nick, are believable and the reader will feel as if he knows diem. These are books that the reader will not be able to put down and will wait impatiendy for die next installment . (Here, I must add a personal note. After readingJourney to the Alamo, I lent the book to two students, an eighth grader and a seventh grader. Both of these students loved the book and wanted more. The eighdi grader even convinced his motiier to buy him his own copy!) Cuate is a fourth-grade teacher in McAllen, Texas, who clearly understands the minds of her young students. She is currently working on the eagerly awaited next installment of the series, Journey to Gonzales . This reader strongly recommends these books and can easily see diem being used with great success in fourth- and seventh-grade classes. Victoria, TexasDeborah Hardin The Secret Warfor Texas. By Stuart Reid. (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2007. Pp. 248. Acknowledgments, introduction, illustrations, maps, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN 9781585445653. $29.95, cloth.) Scottish historian Stuart Reid examines England's role in early Texas and the arguably related activities of his three-times-great-grandfather, Dr. James Grant, in the Texas Revolution. Focusing primarily on Grant's part in the ill-fated , 1835-36 expedition in which Texas rebels intended to attack Matamoros, Tamaulipas, the author develops a two-part thesis diat challenges traditional interpretations . First, in contrast to the usual idea that England's interest in Texas began after Texas became a republic, Reid asserts that almost as soon as American setders first arrived in Texas, England launched a twenty-year "secret war" with the United States—a war aimed at making sure Texas remained an impenetrable barrier to American expansion toward die Pacific Ocean. Second, contrary to the customary claim that Grant's land speculation interests motivated his participation in the Matamoros expedition, Reid maintains that Grant served as a British agent who, as part of the secret war, wanted to provoke a Federalist insurrection that would ensure Texas either remained a part of Mexico or became part of a new republic of northern Mexico. The generally chronological organization of Reid's crisply written book con- 2oo8Book Reviews89 tributes substantially to the clarity and coherence of his arguments. After clearly stating his thesis in a concise introduction, he uses his first chapter to provide evidence diat Grant's anti-American actions as a British agent began in die 1820s and included a clandestine involvement in the quixotic Fredonian Rebellion. In the next six chapters, Reid quickly shifts to die mid-i830s and traces Grant's numerous activities, first as a Coahuilan businessman, legislator, and recipient of controversial land grants and then as a warrior in the Texas Revolution. As the author shows, Grant's actions in the Revolution included fighting against Mexican troops in the siege of San Antonio de Béxar, helping to instigate the subsequent Matamoros expedition, and serving as an expedition leader until Mexican troops surprised and killed him on March 2, 1936. After devoting his eighth chapter to die relationship between England and the new Republic of Texas, Reid closes with a postscript that focuses on the administration of Grant's estate and the disposition of certificates issued to Grant in connection...

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