The Mapmaker: A Literary Conversation with Author Tom Young

Join us at the Alliance Française of Washington, DC for a special evening with author Tom Young, presenting his new WWII novel The Mapmaker. Inspired by real Resistance operations in occupied France, the book follows a daring intelligence courier on the run from the Gestapo and an RAF pilot risking everything to bring her home in the tense weeks before D-Day.

Tom Young will discuss the real historical events behind the story, answer audience questions, and sign copies of the book, which will be available for purchase on-site through our partners at Bonjour Books. The event will take place in person and is in English.

Don’t miss this chance to meet the author, discover the thrilling world of The Mapmaker, and celebrate courage, resistance, and history brought vividly to life.

Summary of The Mapmaker:

Resistance operative Charlotte Denneau has critical targeting information for the Allies, and the Gestapo knows it. On the run across occupied France, she must prioritize her mission over the lives of the agents and civilians she needs to help her escape. Germans are taking down Resistance networks with disastrous results. Agents are being arrested, tortured, questioned, and turned. Charlotte never knows whom to trust. She communicates in coded radio calls to London, with the enemy always listening. More than anything, she needs a flight out—before the Nazis drag her to an interrogation chamber.

Philippe Gerard, a French pilot who joined the British Royal Air Force after the fall of France, faces an impossible mission: He must find Charlotte, land by moonlight to pick her up in a farmer’s field, and evade Luftwaffe fighters on the way back to England. But where is she? If he gets an all-clear signal over a dark pasture, is she really there? Or does the signal lure him into a trap?

In the critical weeks before D-Day, every contribution counts: A well-drawn map, a timely aerial photo, or a daring landing in a muddy field might make the difference between triumph and defeat. Inspired by real-life events from World War II, The Mapmaker demonstrates how individual courage and sacrifice can set the stage for victory.

About the author:

Tom Young served in Afghanistan and Iraq with the Air National Guard. He has also flown combat missions to Bosnia and Kosovo, and additional missions to Latin America, the horn of Africa, and the Far East. In all, Young logged nearly 5,000 hours as a flight engineer on the C-5 Galaxy and the C-130 Hercules, while flying to almost forty countries. Military honors include the Meritorious Service Medal, three Air Medals, three Aerial Achievement Medals, and the Air Force Combat Action Medal. Young retired from the Air Guard in 2013 after more than twenty years of service.

In civilian life he spent ten years as a writer and editor with the broadcast division of the Associated Press, and retired recently as an airline captain based at Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C. Young currently works as an aviation consultant. He holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Young’s well-received military adventure novels include The Mullah’s Storm, Silent Enemy, The Renegades, The Warriors, and Sand and Fire. His historical novels set in World War II include Silver Wings, Iron Cross; Red Burning Sky; and The Mapmaker.

The Mullah’s Storm was a Book of the Month Club Thriller of the Month and an Indie Next List Selection. Publishers Weekly gave starred reviews to The Renegades, Silent Enemy, and The Warriors. The Mullah’s Storm earned a starred review from Kirkus Reviews. The Mullah’s Storm, Silent Enemy, and The Renegades received Gold Medal awards from the Military Writers Society of America. Sand and Fire received a starred review from Booklist.

Young is also the author of the nonfiction book The Speed of Heat: An Airlift Wing at War in Iraq and Afghanistan, released in 2008. His narrative, “Night Flight to Baghdad,” appeared in the anthology Operation Homecoming: Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Home Front in the Words of U.S. Troops and Their Families. The Washington Post listed Operation Homecoming among the best books of 2006