Barbed Wire: A Political History

(Paperback)

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No less than the internal combustion engine, the transistor, or the silicon chip, barbed wire is a quintessentially modern invention, a product that has influenced the lives of millions of people across the globe since its invention in the late nineteenth century. Now in paperback, Barbed Wire: A Political History demonstrates that the invention of barbed wire was a major breakthrough with far-reaching consequences. Cheap and mass-produced, barbed wire accomplished what no other product did before it, or has since done more effectively: the control of vast amounts of open space.

looks unflinchingly at a central and fascinating strand of modern life.

Reviews

"Razac writes with a cool precision that matches the sharp sting of his subject."
"The Christian Science Monitor"
"A fascinating read. . . . No one who reads "Barbed Wire" will look at this stuff the same way again."
"Salon"
"[Razac] proves himself the poet of barbed wire. . . . An important, accessible and even beautiful study of this deadly instrument."
"St. Petersburg Times""