Background
His first work, the trilogy Le Culte du moi (Sous l'æill'ail des barbares, 1888; Un Homme libre, 1889; and Le Jardin de Bérénice, 1891), influenced by Ernest Renan, is devoted to psychological explorations. Though this work, concerned with the cultivation of the "ego," had considerable influence upon his contemporaries, Barrès soon turned to subjects having to do with race and national and local traditions. These topics inspired his second trilogy, Le Roman de l'énergiel' nationale (Les Déracinés, 1897; L'Appel au soldat, 1900; and Leurs Figures, 1903). In this period and later he wrote books on his travels in Italy, Greece, and Spain, notably Du Sang, de la volupté et de la mort (1894) and Le Voyage de Sparte (1905). His other works include Colette Baudoche (1909), La Colline inspirée(1913), and Mes Cahiers (published posthumously in 13 vols., 1929-1950), which contains important autobiographical material on Barrès' life and ideas. Active in politics as a nationalist, Barrès was elected deputy from Nancy in 1889. He died on Dec. 5, 1923, at Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris.