Moritz Thomsen’s
My Two Wars describes the great battles in his life – one against a rich, tyrannical father; the other against anti-aircraft gunners over Germany in 1943 and 1944. It was completed shortly before Thomsen’s death, and with it he concluded the story of his unusual life. In this posthumously published masterpiece he returns to his youth growing up in a wealthy Seattle household with the father he despised, and goes off to war in Europe as a bombardier with the Eighth Air Force. In his introduction Page Stegner calls it “the best narrative account ever written of an imperfect and fragile human soul caught up in the air war over Germany.”
But it is Thomsen’s other war – his lifelong and monumental battle with his father – which begins and ends the book and makes
My Two Wars one of the most outrageous and memorable father-and-son stories ever told.
“. . . one of the best American writers of the century. Thomsen’s writing about war, both philosophical and descriptive, is stunning.” – Washington Post
“A portrayal of the World War II air war over Germany in a class with Joseph Heller’s Catch-22.” – Boston Globe
“Rarely has the similarity between war and family been as clearly drawn as it is in this scathing, unblinking memoir. . . . A remarkable work of brave, unwavering insight.” – Kirkus (starred review)
