Walkabout was one of the most popular magazines in mid-twentieth century Australia, educating local and international readers about the Australian landscape, its peoples and industry. It featured many of the most interesting writers, natural scientists and commentators. Mitchell Rolls and Anna Johnston investigate here, Walkabout magazine’s pivotal role in Australian cultural history.

‘Walkabout magazine was one of the most influential and innovative Australian magazines across much of the twentieth century and it is long overdue for an extended, appreciative study of its internal and external dynamics. Mitchell Rolls and Anna Johnston provide the significant and innovative study the magazine deserves drawing attention to its complex engagement with the natural environment and the land as resource, with history and heritage, with Aboriginal and Pacific Island cultures.’ -David Carter, Fellow at Australian Academy of the Humanities