New book - In Command: Minesweeper Captain and Labour MP Phil Connolly

Jenny Michie | 9th December 2009 | 9:33 pm

This personal and political biography provides a detailed history of the times, from the unusual perspective of one who had a parent in Parliament.

Connolly commanded the minesweepers HM Deodar in the English Channel and HMNZS Moa on anti-submarine duties in the Atlantic and Pacific. In 1943 he was elected to Parliament and represented Dunedin West for twenty years. He served a total of 27 years as a Dunedin city councillor and member of the Otago harbour and Hospital boards, and fought 17 national and local body elections.

From 1957-60 Phil Connolly was Minister of Defence and Minister of Police. He was described as 'an eminent statesman and Minister of the Crown who devoted his life to the advancement of the people of NZ' and a man whose 'forthright honesty and unquestioned integrity, together with his wide experience of life, both in pears and war, had combined to make him an outstanding Minister'.

In Command is available at:
Wellington; Parsons Books and Music, 126 Lambton Quay, Thorndon New World, Molesworth Street
Dunedin, The University Bookshop and possibly the Otago Settlers’ Museum.
Elsewhere through all New Zealand bookshops.

Also available on-line through the publishers, Steele Roberts

RRP $39.99

Please download 'In Command' flyer here [PDF link]