Perfect Gibraltar

Christopher D. Dishman is Chief of the Border Serurity Branch of the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Intelligence and Analysis. Chris visited the city of Monterrey, Mexico for work and being interested in military history, began reading about the battle. He learned that there was an amazing war story that occurred in the city, yet no author had yet dedicated a book to it. Chris returned to Monterrey several times, consulted with historians based in the city, and spent countless hours in the US National Archives and the Library of Congress studying information, maps and lithographs. He built relationships and consulted with many experts on the subject and spent hours on Ebay and auction sites purchasing the original personal letters of the soldiers, getting their experiences in their own words. He first wrote a magazine article on the battle and then embarked on the book. Besides Christopher's passion for military history he has published numerous articles on Homeland Security, terrorism and crime. Chris resides with his family in Dallas, Texas.

I have long believed the three-day siege of Monterrey deserves a book of its own. Christopher D. Dishman has done exactly that, giving this bloody battle, critically important and uncertain in its outcome, the focus it deserves. Impressively researched, readable, and rich in the human element, A Perfect Gibraltar is a welcome addition."" - John S. D. Eisenhower, author of So Far from God: The U.S. War with Mexico, 1846 - 1848""Using numerous primary sources including an ample number of Mexican sources, Dishman provides the most complete account of the Battle of Monterrey to date. Because Monterrey is a little-known battle in a forgotten war, this book will help rescue it from obscurity. I recommend this important work."" - Timothy D. Johnson, author of A Gallant Little Army: The Mexico City Campaign""Useful for scholars but also attractive to a broader reading public, this first full-length book on the Battle of Monterrey provides a vivid and fast-moving narrative in which scenes of the battle come alive, supported by an impressive array of maps and illustrations. Dishman's account grips the reader, even if the outcome is never in doubt."" - Miguel Ángel González Quiroga, author of Nuevo Leo´n ocupado: Aspectos de la guerra Me´xico - Estados Unidos""Dishman's substantive study highlights the difficulties of urban warfare and provides new perspectives on the United States' war with Mexico."" - Joseph G. Dawson, III, author of Doniphan's Epic March: The 1st Missouri Volunteers in the Mexican War""The Perfect Gibraltar signals a maturing of Mexican War studies. Dishman takes the literature of the field to a new level by offering readers the short, quality battle study they expect from Civil War authors. His work should appeal to both the general reader and the scholar."" - Richard Bruce Winders, author of Mr. Polk's Army and Crisis in the Southwest