'The Attractions of Australia': E. J. Brady and the making of Australia unlimited

Edwin James Brady (1869-1952) is best known as a minor figure from the political and literary world of the 1890s and the author of Australia Unlimited, a book associated with government policies of agricultural expansion into marginal lands during the inter-war years. He occupies a paradoxical place in Australian environmental history being characterised as a figure that both celebrated Australian nature and contributed to its destruction. This article examines Brady's often contradictory views, explores the context in which he wrote Australia Unlimited, and considers its impact. It argues that for a book with such alleged influence, it in fact had little at the time, reflecting rather than shaping the world around it, and struggling to be a contemporary success.