There are books to read for pleasure and then there are books that draw you into a world that is deep with emotion. Among his many friends and colleagues were Egon Kisch, Albert Einstein, and Romain Rolland. Buried in Paris, his funeral was attended by a half million mourners. His final work was a biography of Joseph Stalin, which appeared in 1936 after his death from pneumonia in Moscow. In addition to his writing, Barbusse took part in the World Committee Against War and Fascism and the International Youth Congress, as well as worked as an editor for Monde, Progrès Civique, and L’Humanité. Barbusse briefly returned to France, joining the French Communist Party in 1923, before moving back to Russia to work as a writer whose purpose was to support Bolshevism, illuminate the dangers of capitalism, and inspire revolutionary movements worldwide. In 1918, he moved to Moscow, where he joined the Bolshevik Party and married a Russian woman. His novel Under Fire (1916) was inspired by his experiences in the war, which scarred him and influenced his decision to become a pacifist. In 1914, at the age of 41, Barbusse enlisted in the French Army to serve in the First World War, for which he would earn the Croix de guerre. There, he published his first book of poems, Pleureuses (1895) and embarked on a career as a novelist and biographer. Born in Asnières-sur-Seine, he moved to Paris at 16. Henri Barbusse (1873-1935) was a novelist and member of the French Communist Party.
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