In early 2006 the Army chief of staff reported about $440 billion in expenditures. A dollar bill is a smidgen over six inches long. If 440 billion greenbacks are placed end to end, they would extend 220 billion feet, or 41,600,000 miles. That is 1,664 times around the equator. If the greenbacks had Andy Jacksons picture instead of George Washingtons, that line still would run well over 2,000,000 miles. That is about four trips to the moon and back. So, then.....

On $440 billion, how is it possible that soldiers still lack sufficient body armor, training facilities and ammunition, and high-tech bandages? 

On $440 billion, how is it possible that there is not enough money for vehicle maintenance and repair? 

On $440 billion, how is it possible that GIs still write home asking folks to send socks and sheets and batteries?

What We Need addresses The Great American Dichotomy: we allocate vast sums for our military, yet inevitably we spend most of that treasure on technical marvels that we do not use. And if we do not use them, we are entitled to ask how much we need them.

Growing up in the shadows of the giant B-52 Stratofortresses that thundered away from the nearby Barksdale Air Force Base, Brandon Friedman dreamed of becoming a warrior and defending his country. But dreams of heroism and the realities of war can look very different, and when Brandon joined the army as a second lieutenant in peacetime, he had no way of knowing how his world was about to change.

This is Brandon Friedmans story of coming of age in a world awakening to the horrors made plain on 9/11. With the U. S. Army moving into full-fledged combat operations half a world away against Al Qaeda and their Taliban hosts, Brandon found himself facing an elusive enemy on unfamiliar ground. He tells how, as an infantry platoon leader in the elite 101st Airborne Division, the famed "Screaming Eagles," he and his unit struggled to find their footing in the high valleys of the Hindu Kush while battling radical Islam in operation Anaconda.

A brief respite at their home base in Kentucky, and Friedman and the Screaming Eagles were off to war again, this time in Iraq. In this gripping memoir of a young soldier learning the hardest lessons of combat, we see the terrors and disillusion of war as the insurgency in Iraq spirals out of control. And we see the true valor of character emerging under fire.

"God forbid," R. B. Cunninghame Graham wrote, "that I should go to any heaven in which there are no horses." Other horse lovers will cite the Arabian proverb: The wind of heaven is that which blows between a horses ears.

Heavenly as they may be, horses are very much of the earth, ranging wild as the Mustangs of the West, herding the cows of the Great Plains, and doing the yeomans work of the farm pulling plows and wagons. These stalwarts of the farm and ranch or cowboy lore and farmgirl passion appear in striking images here alongside quotes from writers who have celebrated the draft horse and the stallion of the farm, the boon companion, and trusty servant of those who work the land.

This book includes 25 Kama Sutra positions in various outdoor locations, exotic imagery combined with practical tips, and sexy stories about ancient lovemaking techniques.

What picture of farm life is complete without the woman at its heart? Rising before dawn to start the fire, sitting up long after dark to do her mending, she holds farm and family together. In moving photographs and prose, this book celebrates the life of the farm wife, with its hours of hard work and moments of ineffable sweetness. Pictured at tasks such as feeding chickens or on the tractor; caught in a rare stillness against the endless horizon or in a moment of well-deserved rest: Here is the farm wife as she is and was and will be, at the heart of the American farm, and of the American story.

A visual look at the architectural details of smaller residential spaces

The Contemporary Design Details series takes a highly visual look at architectural design details that are more often dealt with in a technical textbook format. The books take readers on a tour of the best details designed by great architects around the world. The series provides a powerful presentation of the most challenging and evolving architectural and design categories.

Small Environments focuses on the type of architectural details that make up distinctive residential spaces under 1,200 square feet (120 square meters).  It presents recent work by architects from around the globe in color photographs and architectural drawings.  Rather than simply another compendium of small projects, the book is structured according to categories of architectural detail.  It includes sections on components essential to the design of small spaces, such as built-in pieces, mobile systems, storage, outdoor rooms, siting strategies, and daylighting details.