About this author:

Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant was a popular 19th-century French writer. He is one of the fathers of the modern short story. A protege of Flaubert, Maupassant's short stories are characterized by their economy of style and their efficient effortless dénouement. He also wrote six short novels. A number of his stories often denote the futility of war and the innocent civilians who get crushed in it – many are set during the Franco-Prussian War of the 1870s.

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18791.Guy_de_Maupassant

Found while looking through this article about the engraved zippo lighters from the Vietnam War.
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