The Search for God and Guinness – Stephen Mansfield
Book Cover
Question: Can one company change the world? That’s an easy answer if you mention the names AIG and/or Bear Stearns. More difficult question: Can one company change the world and its community positively? Even more difficult question: Can that company change the world and its community from a Christian worldview, and its main enterprise be the brewing of beer?
“The Search for God and Guinness” will answer that question, and many more you never thought to ask about the centuries-old Irish brewing company, famous for its Guinness Stout. This book gives a fascinating insight into the Guinness family, from the founder and father, Arthur, down through the branches of descendants, many of which never worked for or were involved in the brewery. This book is more than just a history of the brewing company - it delves into the role that Christian faith played in the business, and throughout the Guinness family; it investigates the impact that Guinness had on its employees and on its community; and it demonstrates what modern industry can learn from the Guinness way of doing business.
At first glance, one might consider that the author is attempting to laud the “greatness” of beer in general – that this book is a manifesto for the celebration of beer. That could not be further from the truth. The author actually admits to never being a beer drinker himself.
For me, this was a book full of unexpected revelations. It was surprising to learn that the conditions surrounding the early years of the Guinness brewing company were actually improved by the availability of a quality beer. The water available to most people in that era was undrinkable, contaminated with human and industrial waste. The proliferation of distilled spirits like gin and whiskey were causing rampant alcoholism, and with that came the social issues that alcoholism creates. At the time, beer was the better alternative, since it carried no disease (due to the fermentation process), it was not nearly as intoxicating as the gin or whiskey, and actually provided some nutritional value (especially B vitamins). There are also many interesting stories about one branch of the Guinness family that was heavily involved in the early Evangelical Christian movements, a welcome aside in a book that turns out to be about more than just beer.
Overall, “The Search for God and Guinness” is a very well written book. The author weaves the story of the brewery, the family, and the historical significance of the times together in great detail, while managing to keep the book from reading like a history text. Mansfield takes a very objective approach in his writing, stating the facts, and letting those facts lead to their logical conclusions. His treatment of not only the brewing business, but the evolution of the Guinness family makes this book that much more fascinating.
My rating: 4 out of 5.
(Disclaimer: I read and reviewed this book as part of the book review blogger program from Thomas Nelson Publishers. More information is available about this program at http://brb.thomasnelson.com)
