In the year following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, regional conflicts in Europe and Asia merged into a truly global war, engulfing hundreds of millions in unprecedented devastation. 1942 marked the height of Axis dominance, with the Nazis implementing the Final Solution to systematically murder millions in death camps across Poland and beyond. By year’s end, the United States had transformed from a militarily weak nation into a burgeoning superpower, outproducing entire countries like Italy through industrial might. Peter Fritzsche, a historian specializing in Hitler and National Socialism, examines this pivotal year in his work 1942: When World War II Engulfed the Globe, tracing how the conflict reshaped nations, ideologies, and human suffering on an unprecedented scale.
War became all-encompassing in 1942, blurring lines between combatants and civilians. The U.S. entry into the war dismantled isolationist sentiment but failed to eradicate systemic racism, as Black and Japanese Americans faced exclusion from military service and wartime jobs. In Tokyo, jubilation over early victories masked the impending destruction of Japan’s cities. Hitler’s declaration of war on the U.S. reflected his twisted vision of global domination, while Allied advances—from the fall of Singapore to the Battle of Stalingrad—marked turning points in the conflict. Fritzsche highlights how 1942 birthed the concept of total war, where civilians endured bombings, famines, and atrocities alongside soldiers.
The book explores overlooked narratives, including the internment of Japanese Americans and the resilience of resistance movements across Asia and Africa. However, it omits key battles like Bataan and Midway, and its analysis of intelligence operations such as Ultra remains incomplete. Despite these gaps, Fritzsche succeeds in portraying 1942 as a critical inflection point, where the world transitioned into an era of unrelenting conflict that would define the 20th century.
1942: When World War II Engulfed the Globe by Peter Fritzsche, Basic Books, 554 pp., $35.