Mateship with Nature: nationalism and conservation in the writings of Alec Chisholm

Alec Chisholm (1890–1977) inspired generations of Australians to see nature anew. A prolific writer of popular works of natural history, he promoted a conservationist ethos. He also promoted an Australian nationalism that cherished the landscapes, flora and fauna of that country. This article explores the entwining of Chisholm’s love of nature with his commitment to Australian nationalism. In doing so, it teases out some of the complexities and ambiguities that threaded through the evolution of a conservationist ethos in Australia in the middle decades of the twentieth century