This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War

This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War

Confederate dead gathered at the edge of Rose Woods for burial, Gettysburg battlefield, July 5, 1863 (detail)

Timothy O'Sullivan's grisly photograph of the aftermath of Gettysburg has been both cropped and horizontally flipped for the cover of former Harvard president Drew Gilpin Faust's book. Presumably, the reason for flipping is design-related; a bit odd, as the image is fairly symmetrical. Perhaps it is so the eye follows the direction of the soldier's bodies, moving left to right, along with the alignment of the text, away from the book's spine.
That said, it is hard to look at - and look away from - the bloated corpses on the field near Rose Woods. Google has decided that the photo is disturbing enough to warrent blurring.

To view the uncropped, properly oriented version of this image, from the collection of the Library of Congress, click here.