George Sand (the pen name of Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, 1804-76) and Gustave Flaubert (1821-80) were two of the most influential French writers and novelists of the 19th century, the former being more popular than both Hugo and Balzac in England in the 1830s and 40s, and the latter considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country and known especially for his debut novel Madame Bovary (1857). The relationship between the two writers extended over a period of 12 years, including the period of the Franco-Prussian War and the Commune, and despite their differences in temperament and aesthetic preference they became close friends. This collection of their correspondence was translated by A L McKenzie at the suggestion of Professor Stuart P Sherman (1881-1926), an American literary critic, educator and journalist, who wrote the introduction.