Just Released

Unwavering: The Wives Who Fought to Ensure No Man is Left Behind

Moving from the sidelines to the front lines of activism, a small group of military wives defies their government’s edict to leave diplomacy to the professionals, speaking up and speaking out to make the fate of America’s POWs and missing men a national priority. They accomplish this in the 1960s, an era when women could not sign a mortgage nor obtain a credit card.

The reader will be thrust into an unfolding drama as the wives first endure polite disinterest from their government. It captures their tentative beginnings, the obstacles they endured, and their everlasting impact. Meticulously researched, Unwavering is a spellbinding page-turner that recounts the twists and turns of tumultuous politics, including a war that was unfolding on television, antiwar protests, the 1968 landslide presidential election, the Watergate scandal, emerging opportunities for women, and the seismic socioeconomic upheaval taking place in America in the 1960s and 1970s. As they take matters into their own hands, the women succeed in persuading a U.S. president, Congress, the State Department, and the Pentagon to follow their lead. Simultaneously, they galvanize public support for their cause, creating a national obsession with our missing men. In doing so, they establish an enduring tenet of American policy to Leave No Man Behind.

Powerful and deeply moving, this is a war story like no other. If the first duty of every citizen is to remember, Unwavering will remind us of those captured or missing in Vietnam, and the remarkable women who kept faith with them for more than half a century.

–Rick Atkinson, bestselling and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of seven works of narrative military history, including The Guns at Last Light and The Long Gray Line

This is a brilliantly written, beautifully emotive, and utterly accurate portrait of the families left behind during America’s long war in Vietnam. It reads like a suspenseful work of fiction, and tugs at the heart—but is also full of rock-solid policy recommendations. Every word is true, and this is a book every military family should cherish.

–Admiral James Stavridis, USN (Ret), former Supreme Allied Commander at NATO and author of To Risk It All: Nine Conflicts and the Crucible of Decision

A cinematic recounting of how the wives of POW/MIAs during the Vietnam War compelled U.S. policy changes, forced tradition-bound military services to adapt, and ultimately, inspired other countries to seek answers to their missing loved ones. A beautifully written and enthralling story that amply displays these ladies’ courage and strength.

–Dr. George J. Veith, author of Drawn Swords in a Distant Land: South Vietnam’s Shattered Dreams

Unwavering tells the essential, overlooked story of how Vietnam upended the world of the women back home—and how they, in turn, tossed the rulebook for dutiful military wives and transformed U.S. foreign policy with a single-minded campaign to save their missing husbands. A vivid and urgent book brimming with original reporting, it breaks your heart while it inspires.

–Amy Argetsinger, Washington Post editor and author of There She Was: The Secret History of Miss America

With a brisk economy and verve, Taylor Kiland and Judy Gray tell a little-known story of love and devotion that deserves our attention and admiration.

–Mark Salter, former chief of staff and coauthor for Sen. John McCain

Taylor Kiland and Judy Gray have chronicled—as no one else has—the dramatic, heart-rending saga of a small band of unlikely heroines who came to reshape US foreign policy.

–Lt. Gen. James Clapper, U.S. Air Force (Ret.) and former Director of National Intelligence