Bear

<p>In September 1976 Viktor Belenko defected to Japan in his MiG-25 Foxbat jet fighterone of the most well-known defections from the Soviet block. But in that same yearthere was another defection so embarrassing to the Soviets that its particulars remaineda secret for more than twenty-five years.</p>All media accounts of Soviet TU-95 flights participating in the Okean 76 navalmaneuvers mention only two planes. Whenever they were confronted in privatehowever the Soviets acknowledged that in reality <I>three</I> planes took off from Russiawith the third aircraft crashing at sea killing everyone aboard. Since it sank in deepwaters no one attempted to salvage the wreck.</p><p>But what the Soviet authorities never acknowledged��publicly or privately��was thatthe third TU-95 made a bold and risky flight from the USSR to Canada. Because itscrew defected the Soviets never admitted that such an event happened. <I>Bear: Flight toLiberty</I> tells the third crew��s thrilling story.</p><p><I>BEAR</I> is the product of Vargas-Caba��s meticulous research into the Soviet ArmedForces and provides an authenticity few books on the subject can match. His carefulmarshalling of real-world facts to develop his work of fiction makes <i>BEAR</I> an excitingread for anyone who wants to remember how much was at stake during the Cold War.��<br>��Nate Braden co-author of <i>The Last Sentry</I><BR><BR>After years of distinguished service for the country��s air force��Mikhail is court-martialed demoted and sent to finish his career in the backwaters of the mother country. Deemed ��politically unreliable�� Mikhail��forever a Russian but never a Communist Party member��bridles under Soviet rule and eventually plans a daring airborne escape. To do so he must convince his crew to leave with him develop a viable flight plan and avoid the potentially fatal attention of innumerable Soviet military officers and KGB stooges. The author tells Mikhail��s tale with meticulous care; his account is thoroughly detailed and filled with the depth of research that turns rough histories into credible recreations. <b>��Kirkus Discoveries</b>