Sunshine and Shade: A Diplomatic and Political Memoir (hardcover)

This book is a political and personal memoir. In the book David Miles Connolly has drawn on family and historical influences which affected his trajectory in life. His early years were in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. During World War Two he was evacuated with his mother to Australia. Back in Ceylon, he saw the end of the British Empire in South East Asia. The book mentions his role in his time in the Australian Federal Parliament in (1970s-1990s), when the Liberal Party was in opposition and he served on various committees. After politics he was High Commissioner in South Africa during the time when Nelson Mandela was President and later accompanied him to the Sydney Olympics in 2000.David Miles Connolly AM (born 20 July 1939) is a former Australian politician and diplomat. He was a member of the Liberal Party and represented the Division of Bradfield in the House of Representatives from 1974 to 1996. He had been a member of the diplomatic service before entering politics and later served as High Commissioner of Australia to South Africa from 1998 to 2002.Connolly was born in Sydney and spent his early years with his parents in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. He was educated at the Jesuit run school, St Ignatius’ College, Riverview and at the University of Sydney where he served on the Students’ Representative Council (SRC). He was a research officer with the NSW Liberal Party before becoming private secretary to Senator Sir Alister McMullin, the President of the Australian Senate, between 1963 and 1965 when he joined the Australian Diplomatic Service, and served in Sri Lanka, UN New York and Israel.