Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant was a 19th-century French writer who is considered one of the fathers of the modern short story. Maupassant was a protégé of Flaubert. Maupassant's stories are known for being efficient without wasting any words. Maupassant influenced other famous writers such as Somerset Maugham and O. Henry.Many of Maupassant’s stories took place during the Franco-Prussian war of the 1870’s and they describe the futility of war and how it affected the innocent civilians. Although Maupassant was best known for his short stories, he also wrote six novels including the classic Bel Ami, which recently was transformed into a movie in 2011. This edition of Guy de Maupassant’s The Adopted Son includes a Table of Contents and images of Maupassant.