1942: Hitler's Gamble for Victory

by Richard Hargreaves

Overview

A unique history of the Axis powers attempt to win the Second World War in 1942, told through the eyes of those who were there.

Drawing upon sources in German, Russian, Italian, Hungarian, Romanian and English, 1942: Hitler's Gamble describes the spring and summer campaigns in the Soviet Union and Africa which crowned the Axis forces with fresh laurels. Impressive victories were won at Kharkov, Sevastopol and Tobruk. Axis powers were then on the cusp of victory in Egypt, the Caucasus and Stalingrad until the seemingly unstoppable juggernaut was brought to a halt in the autumn of 1942.

Based upon 15 years of research in archives, museums and libraries across Europe, this is a unique account of this critical year in World War II. No other history has looked at the Eastern and North African theatres in conjunction, masterfully illustrating how the crushing gains on both fronts would be lost by the end of the year.

Richard Hargreaves shines a light on the little studied areas of the war such as the aftermath of Tobruk and challenges traditional German-centric accounts of the Caucasus campaign. Strategy and the hubris of Hitler and his generals is brilliantly illustrated but so too are the lives and deaths of ordinary soldiers caught up in these extraordinary events.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472874962
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	06/02/2026
Pages:	464
Product dimensions:	6.02(w) x 9.21(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Richard Hargreaves has been a journalist for 30 years. Since 2000 he has almost exclusively covered the Royal Navy and naval affairs and was an official UK war correspondent in Iraq, 2003. He currently works for the Royal Navy as a press officer/writer and sub editor of its monthly magazine Navy News. He has had four books published to date: Germans in Normandy (2006), Blitzkrieg Unleashed (2008), Hitler's Final Fortress (2011) and Opening the Gates of Hell (2025).

Table of Contents

Introduction
Unfinished business – mopping up 'leftovers' of the 1941 campaign: the battle for Kharkov (May 1942); the capture of the Crimean peninsula and fall of Sevastopol (May-June 1942)
Gazala and Tobruk – Rommel's defeat of Commonwealth forces at Gazala and subsequent rout leading to the fall of Tobruk in June
To the Volga and Elbrus – start of the summer campaign in Russia: advance to Stalingrad and into the Caucasus mountains
Into Egypt – Rommel's advance through Egypt to the Alamein position (June-July 1942)
Axis Armies on the Don – the fate of Italian, Hungarian and Romanian troops sent to Russia to support the German advance
Second to Third Alamein – Rommel's final attempt to break through the British position at Alamein and defensive preparations ahead of the British counter-offensive in October
Stalingrad and the Caucasus – fighting in the city of Stalingrad and in the mountains up to mid-November 1942
Postscript – beginning of the Allied counter-offensives at Alamein and Stalingrad causing the collapse of the German fronts in Africa and Russia and the loss of all 1942's gains.