Rate this book

The Search For God And Guiness (2000)

by Stephen Mansfield(Favorite Author)

3.72 of 5 Votes: 5

languge

English

genre

review 1: I read this during a recent trip abroad. I was a little skeptical before pick this up; the title worried me that it may be quite religious (nothing wrong with that – I don’t like being preached to though). Turns out this is a well-written account of, initially, the origins of beer, and the rise, rise, dip and plateauing of Guinness – both the product and the family.Really interesting – whether you drink the beer or not, I recommend the book!
review 2: Interesting book that starts about the history of beer and the story of Guinness, relating the great founders' legacy to that of compassion and care (originally very Christian principles, which the religious right no longer value). The ancient Sumerians viewed beer as divine - as one modern brewer says it... more's not about brewing, but setting the conditions for fermentation, which he sees as the process of god. Beer played heavily into early religious texts and even Christianity itself. Contrary to popular belief, alcohol was actually celebrated - it's excess intoxication that was the issue. Even Martin Luther was known to love beer -"Do not suppose that abuses are eliminated by destroying the object which is abused. Men can go wrong with wine and women. Shall we then prohibit and abolish women?" 200 years ago, beer was originally even seen as a blessing since served as an alternative to hard liquor in promotion of moderation.Years ago, Dublin was formerly squalid and rife with poverty and disease in 1900. Overcrowded with insufficient infrastructure, 3-4 families in a single house. The Irish tradition of waking the dead meant that for 4 days after a family member died, would have ripe opportunity for transmission of disease and maggots. Chief medical officer of Guinness visited 1752 homes to find terrible conditions, literally shit piled up above the toilets. Recommended to the Board to expand tenement housing for employees and require 1 family per house, educational classes, etc. at a time when Guinness was already the best company to work for with highest wages. Still the board agreed to invest more in their people for better public health.Other companies at the time were also making strides to improve employee health - social capitalism at work, Dr. Lumdsen saw the need to preemptively compete and give a win win with more productive employees meaing more stability - "until our families are given the opportunity of being comfortably and decently housed, we cannot expect to do much in raising their social and moral standard. I therefore make so bold as to look forward to the day when a brewery model village is built on the lines of Cadbury's at Bournville [sic], and Lever Brothers at Port Sunlight, where our people can obtain a small one- or two-storied cottage at reasonable rent." George Cadbury, a Quaker, was a grocer who saw alcohol as evil, so created a drinking chocolate as alternative, and built Bournville as a model planned community. William Lever who created the first soap from vegetable instead of animal fat, built Port Sunlight as a profit sharing community where he reinvested profits of his company to the village. Seems like a bit of a fascist benevolent dictator - "it would not do you much good if you send it down your throats in the form of bottles of whiskey, bags of sweets, or fat geese at Christmas. On the other hand, if you leave the money with me, I shall use it to provide for you everything the makes life pleasant - nice houses, comfortable homes, and healthy recreation."Many in the family of Guinness (about 1 in 10) were evangelicals who became ministers. In 1951, on a hunting trip began a debate about what was the fastest game bird in England. This led to publish a promotional book for pubs to lend to conversation... Shortly thereafter, became a yearly best seller - the Guinness book of world records.Concluding quote from Edward Cecil - "you cannot make money from people unless you are willing for people to make money from you.""this is the truth as Edward Cecil proclaimed: we must invest in those who serve us if we expect them to serve well. It is one of the great pillars of the Guinness legacy and it is wisdom that we should reclaim, particularly in our modern world of tension and strife." less

Download links for: The Search For God and Guiness

Advertising