Prior to the terror-filled times of the Long War -- the seemingly endless struggle against the Undine, a paranoid, shapeshifting race once known only as Species 8472 -- enemy sleeper agents quietly penetrated every echelon of Federation society, as well as other starfaring civilizations throughout the Alpha and Beta quadrants. The ensuing conflict shook humanity to is very core, often pitting its highest ideals against a pure survival instinct. All too often the Undine War demanded the harshest of sacrifices and exacted the steepest of personal costs. Drawn from his exhaustive research and interviews, The Needs of the Many delivers a glimpse of Betar Prize-winning author Jake Sisko's comprehensive 'living history' of ths tumultuous era. With collaborator Michael A. Martin, Sisko illuminates an often poorly-understood time, an age marked equally by fear and by courage.