The U.S. Navy and Military Careers Taylor Baldwin Kiland  More Info Walk in the Yard: A Self-Guided Tour of the U.s. Naval Academy Taylor Baldwin Kiland  More Info Open Doors: Vietnam POWs Thirty Years Later Taylor Baldwin Kiland  More Info

According to the School Library Journal, The U.S. Navy and Military Careers, is “an outstanding job of writing about their chosen military branches. Kiland begins with action in the Persian Gulf before devoting two chapters to the history and development of the U.S. Navy. Stein opens with 9/11, followed by a compact history of the Corps from 1775 to 1918. Chapter three is an overview of World War II to the present. The remaining five or six chapters in each book describe the roles of each branch in defending our nation. Considerable space is devoted to personnel requirements, expectations, duties, and qualifications. Dangers are honestly dealt with. Charts present the various pay scales. Maps are few, but well done. Both texts are generously illustrated with numerous high-quality, color photos. Actual names of Marines and sailors are used in many of the captions. The texts are supplemented with fact boxes when appropriate. The enticing covers are only the beginning of two informative titles that will attract students with military interests, as well as those from military families.”

Taylor Baldwin Kiland received her B.A. in journalism from the University of Southern California and her M.A. in marketing communications from Northwestern University. She is a former Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy -- the third generation in her family to serve in the military. She has served as a director at the global communications firm Burson-Marsteller and as a volunteer for Sen. John McCain.  Taylor Baldwin Kiland is the author of The U.S. Navy and Military Careers and a co-author of Open Doors: Vietnam POWs Thirty Years Later; and, Walk in the Yard: A Self-Guided Tour of the U.s. Naval Academy.

According to the book description of Open Doors: Vietnam POWs Thirty Years Later, it “is a tribute to Vietnam prisoners of war and their individual determination in seeking personal and professional happiness upon their release. A testament to the strength of the human spirit and the power of human will, it is also a celebration of freedom.

While their experience in captivity has been well documented, historians have largely overlooked the current lives of former Vietnam POWs. Combining photo portraits and insightful profiles of thirty Vietnam-era POWs, Taylor Baldwin Kiland and Jamie Howren offer an intimate look at these men—the longest-held group of returned POWs in our nation’s history—as husbands, fathers, sons, brothers, and grandfathers. Subjects include the famous (Sen. John McCain and former vice presidential candidate Vice Adm. James Stockdale) and the not-so-famous. None received celebrity treatment on their liberation; all resumed their lives as private citizens. Most of them have flourished in the face of great challenges, proud of their accomplishments.

The book is based on a traveling photographic exhibit that has been touring the United States since October 2003. Rather than dwelling on the torture and suffering of their years in the notorious prison complex known to its inhabitants as the “Hanoi Hilton,” the authors focused on commemorating the thirtieth anniversary of the POWs’ return to the United States and on celebrating the years of freedom and personal achievement that followed.”

According to the book description of Walk in the Yard: A Self-Guided Tour of the U.S. Naval Academy, “Drawing on colorful literary and historical references, this narrative guide to the U.S. Naval Academy grounds, known as the Yard, takes visitors on a prescribed path within the walls of a great Annapolis institution that has been educating midshipmen for more than 150 years.

Visitors can move at their own pace as they immerse themselves in the Academy s culture, as described here, and linger over what appeals to them most, be it John Paul Jones' crypt, a collection of Currier and Ives prints at the Naval Academy Museum, or antique cannons from the Spanish-American War.

The authors offer telling quotes from famous graduates, anecdotes about events that took place in various buildings, facts about the architecture, and simple instructions about the best place to stand to compare a modern-day view with a historic photograph.”