question. i didn't want to end with at least clarifying there has been some rather systemic evaluation of u.s. bases in the last 15 or 20 years. you're right, that the evaluation of foreign bases is not formally a part but it's been done in parallel with the base re-alignment and closure commission, and in fact if you look at western europe, a number of troops has diminished quite significantly, as well as a number of bases there. you make an interesting point in your book that there's been -- at the same time they're downsizing in europe, they're pouring millions of dollars more into refurbishing and rennovating structures that remain. but there has been an attempt, at least, to grapple with this. right? >> there has. there has.

but i think we have seen contradictory trends often. again, while bases have been closed in europe, going back to the bush administration, in significant numbers bases and troops being brought home. we have also seen this increasing buildup of bases in the persian gulf. tens of billions of gnarls to build base infrastructure in the persian gulf. you're right, the pentagon has engaged in particular in europe, in a systemic evaluation of what bases can be closed. but for example, the military construction system is so out of control that frequently you have examples where new schools are built that a u.s. base in germany or britain just a year or two before that base is closed. so millions of dollars invested. i only hope that germany and britain are able to use those facilities. i guess i also point people to

the overseas base commission, which several members of the senate mandated about a decade ago, which did look at the overseas base infrastructure but effectively had no impact. [applause] >> so, copies of "base nation" are available at the cash register. david will be up here signing. please form a line to the right of the table, and please remember to fold up your chairs. thank you. [inaudible conversations]

>> -- killing reagan" how the attempted assassination of ronald reagan shape his political career. and a recount the plot to assassinate president lincoln in "killing lincoln" and look at the last year of general george patton's life. and a look at the conservative book club's bestseller list continues with glen beck's of "it is about islam. "unlikeable, edward kline looks at hillary clinton's political career. mark levine is next with "plunder and deceit" in which he calls on young people to resist what he calls an ever growing centralized government. also on the best-selling list, presidential candidate and former neurosurgeon ben carson

in "a more perfect union" argues a bert understanding of the constitution is needed to solve america's most pressing issues and he lays out hit plate cal thinking. ann ram ram in -- ann romney in which she details her struggle with multiple sclerosis. you can watch the authors on our web site, booktv.org. >> how do i find odessa? wasn't hard to find. it's football team, odesya, was absolutely legendary at that point in time in 1988. it ended up winning, i think, three or four state championships in the '80s and a the most competitive playoff system in the country. and 65 teams vying to be the state champion. they were ranked number one in the preseason, and what makes a

book? it's story-telling, narrative. why you read it? to turn the page, and my hope was that they would ghetto playoffs as they were always pretty much guaranteed. then there was odessa. not a equipment send shall small town but the -- quintessential small town but felt like a small town because of its isolation, almost hermetically saled, and the football stadium that cost $5.6 million in 1985 and seated 19,000 people. well, that pretty much tells you football is important. so i got permission, got access, and win down there. lived there for a year. i took my twin boys with me. they win to -- bought red cowboy boots. i knew the worst thing i could

do was look like a texan so i stayed away from bow ties and bolo ties ties and cowboy bootsd the first practice i was in loafers and khakis and looked like an idiot, basically. the kid look a little me and said, who is this guy and what is he doing? then they forgot who they were. i found incredible, beautiful power in those friday night lights. a spectacle unlike anything i've seen, more exciting than nfl and afl championship games with the bands, the cheerleader, pageantry, klieg and laugh, incredible importance. that stayed stadium was like an incredible rocketship landing on

the moonscape. the flatness, the wind running across. it was spectacular. but it was too spectacular because those lights were really too bright as they are in many places. i feel firmly that our -- we have become warped in the relevance sports plays in our lives, certainfully high schools and colleges. too many parents -- this not me talking. this is a recent poll bill the pew foundation or robert wood johnson foundation -- 25% of parents think that their kid will make it to the pros. that's insane. but that also explains their obsession, their obsession with their kids, the pressure they put on kids, the pressure to win at all cos, the pressure they put on coaches. to the degree too many places, academics is simply an obstacle

to overcome, to find a loophole to be gotten around. academics should be the mainstay of life. it should be the other way around. and it's not just texas, football, basketball, it's basketball or squash, fencing, that's become the cocurricular activity, the important activity in the academics are shunted to the side. and we are the only culture in the world that does this. we're the only society. the only country that looks to high school and college for sports entertainment. no other country does that. and it's been there at the beginning and i don't know how we'll get rid of it, but that's a bizarre thought. that sports is playing such a consuming role at our schools, at a time when, as we all know there is more competition, more

globalization, than ever, ever before, and you talk to any foreign student who studied in a foreign country, has come to the united states, they say that high school is a joke. that the amount of time that is spent crewing around and fooling around, both in high school and college, is astounding to them, and i think sports is part of that monster that we have created. >> you can watch this and other programs online at booktv.org. >> i'm coming to this chair. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]