Now a new book, Barbed Wire: The Fence that Changed the West, examines the tumultuous history of a simple twist of wire that shaped the settlement of the American frontier and led to the end of the open range. “Barbed wire transformed not only the landscape of the American West but also the lives of its occupants in the last quarter of the nineteenth century,” observes Joanne S. Liu, the author of the newly released Barbed Wire: The Fence that Changed the West.

While documenting the effects of the new fence on the landscape, Lui also covers the rancorous patent battles that surrounded the invention of barbed wire. Barbed Wire illustrates how inventions that we now take for granted can affect the course of history.