The Mapmaker
Thomas Young
Knox Press
July 22nd, 2025
The Mapmaker by Thomas Young is a thrilling historical novel. Young uses his personal experience, having served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and dozens of other countries as an Air National Guard flight engineer on the C-130 Hercules and C-5 Galaxy, to write intense scenes where the reader feels they are in the cockpit.
“I tried to put the reader in the cockpits of my stories. I have not flown WWII era aircraft but have been a passenger in a few. What helps me write those scenes authentically is old training videos found on You Tube. I watched how the engine was started on a B-17 Flying Fortress and how to run the checklist on all the aircraft of that era. I took a few notes while watching those videos. The Lysander plane, Simoun plane, and Walrus plane are in this book, all propellers. Jets were under development in the 1930s and 1940s, but really in their infancy during WWII. Any Allied plane flying over occupied Europe during the war was in danger both from anti-aircraft artillery and from the German fighter planes. They both posed great dangers. I remember my grandfather who was a mechanic on B-17s during WWII talked about how the planes had significant battle damage.”
The two main figures in the story are Charlotte Denneau and Philippe Gerard. She is an art student who uses her skills to sketch various German sites that will enable the allies to attack them. Philippe is a French pilot who joined the British Royal Air Force, flying small engine propeller planes to rescue clandestine agents in France. Both put their lives in danger as the Germans and the French collaborators are determined to find, arrest, and torture those in the French resistance and those trying to rescue them.
“Charlotte is a French American woman. She is very valuable to the allied cause. Charlotte is a warrior who is determined and loyal. She was an art student in France. Initially, Charlotte, the female lead, provides valuable intel with her hand drawn diagrams. After she took a different role in the war effort, she provided intelligence by analyzing the different photos, which is a similar kind of work. Cartography is a related field to photo interpretation.”
Philippe has psychological wounds by having his judgement questioned. Philippe feels he has something to prove. He is brave and courageous. Once he started the photographic run over the target, and they wanted to take a picture, they started the camera running. It would continuously take pictures until turned off. As they flew over a target the angle changed. The photos from different angles could be put together to estimate the height of the different targets. Yet, nothing is better than eyes on the ground that provide valuable intel.”
This story shows how the courageousness of a few helped the allies to overtake the Germans. The book intertwines fact and fiction making for an exciting story.
