Cover -- Half title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Maps and Figures -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1 Expansion: The American West and the Invention of Barbed Wire -- 1. Unpacking the Louisiana Purchase -- 2. How to Fence a Cow -- 3. How to Fence the World -- 2 Confrontation: Barbed Wire on the Battlefield -- 1. Conquest by Iron -- 2. Crisis of the Horse -- 3. Perfection of the Obstacle -- 4. The Obstacle Triumphant -- 3 Containment: Barbed Wire in the Concentration Camps -- 1. The Control of Nations -- 2. Enemy People -- 3. Tractors to Ukraine -- 4. Trains to Auschwitz -- Epilogue -- Notes -- References -- Index -- About the Author.