in her extraordinary recent book on the American Civil War,

最近写了一本以美国内战为题材的好书
This Republic of Suffering,

《这苦难的共和国》
places the fear precisely of mors repentina

书中认为对于突然性死亡的恐惧
at the center of her account of the Civil War.

是美国内战的核心
It was a widespread anxiety,

这造成了一种普遍性的焦虑
pervasive among the soldiers on both sides of the conflict,

弥漫在战争双方的士兵之中
and it recurred again and again in the letters they wrote home.

他们在自己的家书之中反复提及这种焦虑
Total war, like bubonic plague,

全面打响的战争如同鼠疫一样
provides unlimited opportunity

让没有准备的突然死亡
for an unprepared and sudden death

随处发生
that could set us all on the wrong path for eternal life.

这会让我们在死后的永生里走向歧途
Well, literature also gives expression

在许多文学作品中也会反映出