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The Search for God and Guinness: A Biography of the Beer that Changed the World Paperback – Illustrated, July 8, 2014

by Stephen Mansfield (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 927 ratings
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The history of Guinness, one of the world's most famous brands, reveals the noble heights and generosity of a great family and an innovative business.

The history began in Ireland during the late 1700s when the water in Ireland as well as throughout Europe was famously undrinkable, and the gin and whiskey that took its place was devastating civil society.

It was a disease ridden, starvation plagued, alcoholic age, and Christians like Arthur Guinness, as well as monks and evangelical churches, brewed beer that provided a healthier alternative to the poisonous waters and liquors of the times. This is where the Guinness tale began.

Now, 246 years and 150 countries later, Guinness is a global brand and one of the most consumed beverages in the world. The tale that unfolds during those two and a half centuries has power to thrill audiences today including:

  • the generational drama,
  • business adventure,
  • industrial and social reforms,
  • deep-felt faith, and the beer itself.

The Search for God and Guinness is an amazing, true story of how the Guinness family used its wealth and influence to touch millions during a dark age.

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    320 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Thomas Nelson
  4. Publication date
    July 8, 2014
  5. Dimensions
    5.5 x 1.05 x 8.3 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0718011333
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0718011338
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Stephen Mansfield is the New York Times bestselling author of Lincoln's Battle with God, The Faith of Barack Obama, Pope Benedict XVI, Searching for God and Guinness, and Never Give In: The Extraordinary Character of Winston Churchill. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with his wife, Beverly.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thomas Nelson; Illustrated edition (July 8, 2014)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0718011333
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0718011338
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1.05 x 8.3 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 927 ratings

About the author

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Stephen Mansfield

Stephen Mansfield

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Stephen Mansfield is a New York Times bestselling author and a popular speaker who also leads a media training firm based in Washington, DC.

He first rose to global attention with his groundbreaking book "The Faith of George W. Bush," a bestseller that Time magazine credited with helping to shape the 2004 US presidential election. The book was a source for Oliver Stone’s award-winning film “W.” Mansfield’s "The Faith of Barack Obama" was another international bestseller. He has written celebrated biographies of Booker T. Washington, George Whitefield, Winston Churchill, Pope Benedict XVI, and Abraham Lincoln, among others. Publishers Weekly described his book, "Killing Jesus," as “masterful.”

Stephen’s humorous but fiery "Mansfield’s Book of Manly Men" has inspired men’s events in the US and abroad. His more recent "The Miracle of the Kurds" has been selected as “Book of the Year” by Rudaw, the leading Kurdish news service. As a result of this book, Mansfield has become a respected voice in support of the Kurds against the evils of ISIS in the Middle East.

Stephen speaks widely about men, leadership, faith, the lessons of history, and the forces that shape modern culture. His media training firm, The Mansfield Group, has worked with top politicians, CEOs, rock stars, major publishing firms, and educational institutions around the world.

Mansfield lives in Nashville and the nation’s capital with his wife Beverly, an award-winning songwriter and producer.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
927 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Justin Mertes
5.0 out of 5 stars A worthy read and fascinating tribute of the faithful Guinness family
Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2023
Verified Purchase
It's a fascinating story of the Guinness family over the past 250 years, and how they have been a remarkable and inspiring force for social good. Highlights include:

• The importance of all trades and skills for the flourishing of society (the book dove into the Reformers' views on vocation and faithfulness to God)
• Arthur Guinness Sr.'s impact on Ireland (founding the first Sunday school, fighting against dueling, charing the board of a hospital for the poor)
• The myriad benefits that Guinness workers in the 1920s enjoyed (on-site medical and dental care for them and their families, massage services, reading rooms, subsidized meals, subsidies for funeral expenses, sports facilitates, free concerts, entertainment, and 2 pints of Guinness a day)
• Ensuring that all employees who served in WWI were guaranteed their job back upon their return, and paying half-salaries to the families of each man who served.
• The rich history of pastoring & mission work that came from the Guinness line, including Henry Grattan Guinness, grandson of Arthur Sr., who was ranked among DL Moody and Charles Spurgeon.

And, most powerful for me, the story of Guinness' chief medical officer, Dr. John Lumsden, who personally visited thousands of Dublin homes during 1900 to help the company fight disease, squalor, and ignorance (which led to the establishment of the Irish version of the Red Cross).

The book is about beer, yes, but it's about faith and business, stewardship of wealth, and stewarding God's gifts for the benefit of all.

Well written, engaging, and I'm looking forward to my next trip to Ireland where I will most certainly go grab a pint (or two, or three) of Guiness!
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jomargie
4.0 out of 5 stars A good read for Guinness aficionados
Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2024
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An interesting and fun history of the Guinness Family that offers the reader insights into the philosophy, philanthropy, dedication, successes, adaptability and dedication of the many generations.

I found that some of the detail in the middle of the history “slowed” it down a bit, but that’s me, the final chapters more than made up for that.

If you have any affinity with the beer or Irish history you will not be disappointed in the book.
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Jane O'Hara
5.0 out of 5 stars In search of God and Guiness
Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2024
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Quick delivery, book obviously used but enjoyed the notations in it. Fascinating book.
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Jon K.
5.0 out of 5 stars Guinness is Goodness
Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2023
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This book makes me want to go to Ireland. An easy read with some great history…put it on your Christmas list!
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Gord Wilson
4.0 out of 5 stars The other side
Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2010
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The title seems odd, but it fits. This book is as much about the author's search as his findings. He comes from outside the "beer culture". It would be as if I wrote a book on Starbucks, since I don't drink coffee. What I really think he wanted to write about is the philanthropy of Arthur Guinness, and his subsequent lineage. What he is excited to write about is how Arthur was very influenced by Charles and John Wesley, the founders of Methodism and its "social gospel", and evangelist George Whitefield. He's on safe ground here, as most books on Guinness and beer would fail to bring in these topics. However, then he has to almost apologize for the book to his fellow Protestants who are not merely moderate drinkers but abstainers. There follows an intriguing history of brewing and the place of beer in society. Earlier Protestants like Guinness viewed beer not as the curse, but the answer to the problem of drunkeness from harder gin. Not surprisingly, he quotes an author from 100 years ago, G.K. Chesterton, who could always be counted on to stand up for pubs and beer, and he gave us this quote, among others: "We should thank God for beer and burgundy by not drinking too much of them."

The book from then on repays careful reading, because it offers glimpses of little known history. 90 per cent of Dublin's population was Catholic, Mansfield notes, but they only owned 10 per cent of the land. Why? the reader immediately asks. Because when Henry VIII created the Church of England, there was nothing to create it from but stolen Catholic churches and monasteries, Catholicism being then conveniently outlawed. The Irish church was the Irish equivalent of the Church of England (Anglican Church). Guinness, whose workers were all Catholic, was a model employer who opposed the anti-Catholic laws in Ireland, we're told, and even went so far as to rebuild St. Patrick's Cathedral. If only he could have gone further, and given it back to the Catholics.

Mansfield mentions the English Quaker Cadbury, a total abstainer who invented a famous cocoa drink as an alternative to alchohol, and created a utopian British village for his workers. Lever, a soap manufacturer, also was known for providing similarly well-designed housing. However, the same Chesterton mentioned earlier, wrote a poem in favor of beer which has the line "Cocoa is a Cad"-- an obvious reference to Cadbury's anti-pub stance.  The Ball And The Cross, Manalive, The Flying Inn (Collected Works of Gk Chesterton)  Guinness provided free medical care and on site doctors for his workers. In England this went further, with inspectors regulating every aspect of the life of the poor. Eventually this led to the eugenics movement and forced sterilization in England, America, and around the world. In America, Margaret Sanger's original goal, for instance, was entirely ethnic: to limit the numbers of Jews, blacks, and Irish Catholics.  Eugenics and Other Evils : An Argument Against the Scientifically Organized State

As Mansfield notes, during the Irish potato famine, the British government "did nothing" to help, prompting "A Modest Proposal" from Jonathan Swift, a rector at St. Patrick's Cathedral, and the author of Gulliver's Travels, with the bleak and sardonic proposal that the Irish poor eat their young. A bit farther afield, Mansfield decries the split between the sacred and profane that he says Catholics created, and Martin Luther healed. The Puritans, he notes, would hoist a cold one, as would the German reformer. Chesterton, on the other hand, would say it was the other way round, noting that the puritans outlawed the celebration of Christmas, and Martin Luther closed the monasteries which were the breweries of the day.

Mansfield says the available info on the Guinnesses is rather sketchy, but by the end of the book, there seems to be quite a bit. I looked for apologist and writer Os Guinness in the last chapter on twentieth century Guinnesses, but he was not among those present. Is he not in the lineage? The question will have to wait. All that said, Mansfield piqued my interest enough to want, well, another pull at the tap. I'm ready to relax with a tall, cool one, maybe a Harp lager, whenever he wants to tell the rest of the story.
9 people found this helpful
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Benton G. Hall III
5.0 out of 5 stars Serving God and Man
Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2023
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Mansfield’s research has revealed the secret of Guinness. Crafted by generations of one family who brewed and marketed stout beer in the purposeful service of men and God.
Delightful read.
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forrest krummel
3.0 out of 5 stars Beer God and Guinness
Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2020
Verified Purchase
I found the first couple of chapters compelling. Then the book dragged until the epilogue which measured up to the first couple of chapters. The epilogue had a good succinct list of life guidelines.
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David T Johnson
5.0 out of 5 stars A well rounded book.
Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2020
Verified Purchase
This book covers so many aspects of beer.
First, it presents how important beer was
in the history of man.
Second, it presents the Guinness Companies' affect on
both the local community, specific countries, as well as the world.
It covers the personal lives of those who built the company
and that is where God comes in.
If you are not into God, well you still have those initial chapters
that did not involve God so you can bail out on the God part
having enjoyed the history of beer, the history of Guinness as a company
and its affect on communities and countries.
(Though the God part, though not mentioned in the earlier chapters,
was integral in why the company had such a positive affect as described
in those early chapters.)
It was an enjoyable read and I must buy another one because I have
lent my copy(ies) out and want to read it again.
7 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting story
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 17, 2024
Verified Purchase
Good biography. As described. Delivered to time.
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MacD
5.0 out of 5 stars An Amazing Book about an Amazing Family
Reviewed in Canada on April 8, 2017
Verified Purchase
This book provides the reader with backstory of the amazing family behind the amazing beer. Thoroughly researched and very well written, the book dispels myths and brings the truth to light in the most engaging fashion.

If the book has a drawback, it is that some of the chapters are extremely long. The information they provide, however, is necessary to get the complete grasp of the Guinness family saga.

"God and Guinness" will appeal to a wide range of readers.

History buffs will love it.

Businessmen will profit greatly by it.

Christians of every stripe will be challenged to express their faith in more practical ways.

Enjoy!
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Neil Cullan McKinlay
5.0 out of 5 stars God & Guinness are Good for You
Reviewed in Australia on September 8, 2015
Verified Purchase
Even if you're not a Guinness drinker, if you wish to be edified then read this book! Arthur Guinness (as did many of his descendants) reflected God's grace into his surrounding community as he applied the Protestant work ethic and built a God blessed successful business while caring deeply for the wellbeing of his employees.
With book in one hand and a glass of Guinness in the other I observed Mansfield, a qualified historian, skillfully articulate the story of beer from its dark and misty origins to its inspired perfection in Dublin.
I was as transfixed on this book as I am watching a freshly poured pint of Guinness settling in a glass! Intriguing! Refreshing!
This is a full-bodied and wholesome book in which God is glorified and Guinness is appreciated.
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M C.
4.0 out of 5 stars Good history
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 12, 2020
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A drinkers handbook
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Tim Foote
5.0 out of 5 stars Bringing the nobility of beer to our age
Reviewed in Australia on August 8, 2019
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I thought a well written easy to read book, that brought the original noble purpose of beer to life and walk us through an incredible family of faith, force and incredible accomplishment
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