Barbed wire is the quintessentially modern creation. Its hidden history is here uncovered for the first time, illustrated with rare archive photographs. Few technologies did more to usher in the hallmarks of the modern era: the harnessing of nature, brutal mass warfare, political conquest and repression, and genocide. Developed in the USA as a handy way of keeping cattle _in_ and native Americans _out_, it realized its destiny in the trench warfare of 1914-18 and in the camp archipelagos of the world, from the Boer War to Auschwitz, from Gulag to Guantanamo.

The history of animals and humans as seen through barbed wire. In this original and controversial book, historian and philosopher Reviel Netz explores the development of a controlling and pain-inducing technology—barbed wire. Surveying its development from 1874 to 1954, Netz describes its use to control cattle during the colonization of the American West and to control people in Nazi concentration camps and the Russian Gulag. Physical control over space was no longer symbolic after 1874. This is a history told from the perspective of its victims. With vivid examples of the interconnectedness of humans, animals, and the environment, this dramatic account of barbed wire presents modern history through the lens of motion being prevented. Drawing together the history of humans and animals, Netz delivers a compelling new perspective on the issues of colonialism, capitalism, warfare, globalization, violence, and suffering. Theoretically sophisticated but written with a broad readership in mind, Barbed Wire calls for nothing less than a reconsideration of modernity.

How could an ordinary fence shape a nation's history? Before the 1870s, much of the American West was an uninterrupted expanse of plains, where native tribes followed buffalo herds for hundreds of miles and cowboys ran cattle wherever water and grass led them. After the Homestead Act of 1862, settlers pouring into the West to stake their claims found that farming was not easy in cattle country, where the Law of the Open Range dictated that the needs of the herds-and their owners-came first. Then, seemingly overnight, everything changed. The invention and mass production of barbed wire made it possible for homesteaders to fence off millions of acres, creating a violent clash of cultures. In this engaging history, the struggles of cattlemen, farmers, Indians, inventors, and outlaws are brought to life for history buffs and curious readers alike. Enhanced by historic photos, maps, and a handy chronology, Barbed Wire: The Fence That Changed the West reveals the fascinating account of how a simple twist of wire transformed a country's landscape and ushered in a new way of life.

This powerful debut thriller from "a major new talent" (Kirkus) set in a poor, rural community where loyalty is everything, "packs an emotional punch" (Lisa Gardner) as the daughter of a meth kingpin is forced to choose between family, or freedom. Never cut the drugs--leave them pure. Guns are meant to be shot--keep them loaded. Family is everything--betray them and die. Harley McKenna is the only child of North County's biggest criminal. Duke McKenna's run more guns, cooked more meth, and killed more men than anyone around. Harley's been working for him since she was sixteen, dreading the day he'd deem her ready to rule the rural drug empire he's built. Her time's run out. The Springfields, her family's biggest rivals, are moving in. And they're coming for Duke's only weak spot: his daughter. Duke's raised her to be deadly -- he never counted on her being disloyal. But if Harley wants to survive and protect the people she loves, she's got to take out both Duke's operation and the Springfields. Blowing up meth labs is dangerous business, and getting caught will be the end of her, but Harley has one advantage: She is her father's daughter. And McKennas always win.

As a boy, Kenichi “Zeni” Zenimura dreams of playing professional baseball, but everyone tells him he is too small. Yet he grows up to be a successful player, playing with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig! When the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor in 1941, Zeni and his family are sent to one of ten internment camps where more than 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry are imprisoned without trials. Zeni brings the game of baseball to the camp, along with a sense of hope. This true story, set in a Japanese internment camp during World War II, introduces children to a little-discussed part of American history through Marissa Moss’s rich text and Yuko Shimizu’s beautiful illustrations. The book includes author and illustrator notes, archival photographs, and a bibliography.

Most people associate concentration camps with Nazi Germany. Behind Barbed Wire examines how these notorious World War II camps actually reflected a previous use of the system, a system that began almost a century earlier. In truth, Adolf Hitler had studied the American Indian Reservations as he plotted his regime's attack on European Jews and other minorities. Remarkably, in the years between the reservations and the Nazi camps, the United States, along with several other Western powers, implemented concentration camps throughout the globe, each instance employing more and more barbaric measures with harsher and harsher outcomes. Behind Barbed Wire explains how these nations dubiously justified camp operations by citing military counterinsurgency tactics, containment policies, and simply the ability to prosecute war more easily. This brief history addresses the subliminal reasons for relocating hundreds of thousands of civilians, why the system became so prevalent, and how concentration camps existed under the cover of armed conflict. It argues that, most often, camps can be facilitated only under the guise of war. Anyone with an interest in military history, World War II, concentration camps, and the plight of the Jews will discover how all these topics converge into a compelling story of war, bigotry, and military might. Behind Barbed Wire also sheds light on the concentration camp systems that have been employed since the fall of the Nazi dictatorship. With current geopolitical issues focusing on elitism, xenophobia, deplorables, terrorism, and military necessity, this book offers some understanding about the unintended consequences of policy.

Barbed wire is made of two strands of galvanized steel wire twisted together for strength and to hold sharp barbs in place. As creative advertisers sought ways to make an inherently dangerous product attractive to customers concerned about the welfare of their livestock, and as barbed wire became commonplace on battlefields and in concentration camps, the fence accrued a fascinating and troubling range of meanings beyond the material facts of its construction. In The Perfect Fence, Lyn Ellen Bennett and Scott Abbott explore the multiple uses and meanings of barbed wire, a technological innovation that contributes to America’s shift from a pastoral ideal to an industrial one. They survey the vigorous public debate over the benign or “infernal” fence, investigate legislative attempts to ban or regulate wire fences as a result of public outcry, and demonstrate how the industry responded to ameliorate the image of its barbed product. Because of the rich metaphorical possibilities suggested by a fence that controls through pain, barbed wire developed into an important motif in works of literature from the late nineteenth century to the present day. Early advertisements proclaimed that barbed wire was “the perfect fence,” keeping “the ins from being outs, and the outs from being ins.” Bennett and Abbott conclude that while barbed wire is not the perfect fence touted by manufacturers, it is indeed a meaningful thing that continues to influence American identities.