Miguel Vargas-Caba

Born in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic, the youngest of 17 children, Miguel Vargas-Caba learned to love literature and acquired the skill of languages. He began to learn Russian, his favorite language, by singing Soviet revolutionary songs performed by the Soviet Army Choir. He later developed his skill listening to the Russian broadcasts of the "Voice of America" for the Russians in Cuba.

"BEAR: Flight to Liberty," is his first book, which made him the first, and at this time, the only Dominican national to write a book on the subject of the Cold War. Viktor Belenko's defection to Japan inspired him to write BEAR, under one simple premise: What if a HUGE airplane, the size of a B-52, defects to the West? How much noise would that make?

His second book, "Chronicles of the Bear - Stories from the Bear Crews," still under development, is a compilation of stories from the freezing days of the Cold War, as told by the pilots, co-pilots, navigators, radar technicians, and other crew members of the TU-95 Bears who flew around the oceans of the world, in their quest to obtain information about their 'adversaries naval vessels, as they flew to exotic locations in Cuba, Guinea, Angola, Ethiopia, Mozambique, India, and Vietnam.

Besides his literary work, he has also written, translated, and published several articles about the activities of the Soviet Armed Forces, among them:

"Viktor Belenko: Hero or Traitor?" - About Viktor Belenko, the Soviet pilot who defected to Japan in a MiG-25 Foxbat jet fighter.

"The TU-95 RTs (BEAR D) and TU-142 (BEAR F) in Cuba" - About the activities of the Soviet Naval Aviation on the American Eastern Coast from bases in Cuba.

"From the Other Side of the Camera" - A photographic collage of Soviet crew's views of NATO aircraft and carriers.