"Writings on the Sand" is the author's recollection of his family's life's story during a time of great turmoil in Cuban history. The author's father was Chief of the National Police in Santiago de Cuba. Following the resignation of President Fulgencio Batista ,his father acted as intermediary to help establish communication between the National Army in Santiago de Cuba and Fidel Castro's Rebel Army, to effect a pact that would help resolve the conflict and re-establish the democratic process that was interrupted by the coup d'état. The account of his father's execution, of how the country was gradually transformed into a communist dictatorship, and the family's desperate efforts to exit the island before the possibility of departure was extinguished, is punctuated with stories of profound human interest. The photos supply an instructive visual complement to the rest of the book.