The Workingman's Paradise is set in the context of the defeat of the shearer's and maritime strikes of the early 1890's. The novel is essential reading for an appreciation of the context of the rise of the union movement in Australia. William Lane was born in Bristol, England in 1861, and died in Auckland, New Zealand in 1917. In 1885 he migrated to Australia settling in Brisbane and working as a journalist for several newspapers. He became increasingly involved in the trade union movement, advocating the 'New Unionism' extension of the movement into non-skilled, non-craft areas to form a united body of the working class. He was influential in the formation of the Queensland Australian Labour Federation (ALF). When the ALF formed a new paper, The Worker, Lane became the editor, and aimed to direct the union movement beyond strictly wage and employment concerns to a wider political program of socialism. Following recession and the defeat of many union campaigns Lane worked to establish a communist utopian settlements in Paraguay in 1893. He wrote using a number of pseudonyms, including 'John Miller' for The Workingman's Paradise.