Descent and Rise is the first part of Donald Kingsmill's autobiography. He begins it with an account of his ancestors and forebears, the Kingsmills since 1165, the other parts of his family from much later. He tells how the first Kingsmill came to Australia following his great-great-grandfather’s trial for murder and conviction for manslaughter. Those of his other ancestors who arrived in the 19th Century, the Reids and Assers and Newells, all came by choice.
Anecdotes from his own childhood follow, and then he recounts, sometimes amusingly, sometimes disturbingly, incidents from the few years he spent working in a bank before finding his way to a career in diplomacy.
Descent and Rise tells who he is descended from, and the path he followed as he rose towards his lifetime career.
Descent and Rise is an A5 paperback: 21.5 x 15cms (8.5 x 6"). It has 130 pages.
