Stephen Mansfield

Stephen Lee Mansfield (born 1958) is an American author who writes about history, modern culture, religion and men’s issues. His books have appeared on the New York Times best-seller list.

Mansfield was born in Columbus, Georgia, the son of a U.S. Army officer. His family lived on military posts around the United States, though the majority of his early years were spent in Germany, particularly in Berlin during the years when that city was divided into communist and free sectors.

His early travels and formal education left him with an interest in the interplay of religion and leadership. This is what led him to write his first book, Never Give In: The Extraordinary Character of Winston Churchill, which was released in 1995 and became an Evangelical Christian Press Association Gold Medallion Finalist. He followed this with biographies of Booker T. Washington and George Whitefield. In 1996, Governor Don Sundquist asked Mansfield to write the history of religion in Tennessee for that state’s bicentennial.

Mansfield first came to international attention in 2003 with his The Faith of George W. Bush, which was the first of his books to appear on the New York Times bestseller list. The book was also a primary source for Oliver Stone's biographical film about George W. Bush, entitled W.

Mansfield followed his book about Bush with a number of biographies and cultural studies. He wrote Pope Benedict XVI: His Life and Mission to tell the life story of the then newly appointed pope. The Faith of the American Soldier appeared after Mansfield was embedded with U.S. troops in Iraq in 2005. He also wrote The Search for God and Guinness about the 250-year history of social reform efforts by the world’s best-known brewing company. In 2008, Mansfield wrote The Faith of Barack Obama, which was the focus of discussions in major media during the 2008 presidential race between Barack Obama and John McCain.

Typical of Mansfield’s historical works is his Lincoln’s Battle with God about the sixteenth president’s struggle with his personal faith and with a religious perspective on the American Civil War. James M. Cornelius, curator of the Lincoln Collection at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois, wrote of Mansfield’s book, “The light of Lincoln’s growing faith finally shines forth through the thicket of conflicting views and opinions that have been handed down to us. The author sorts these deftly, and provides a clear path toward Lincoln’s heart and mind.”

More recently, Mansfield has become an outspoken advocate for two causes. The first of these is the cause of the Kurds. He released The Miracle of the Kurds just as Kurdish troops were taking an heroic stand against the evils of ISIS in the Middle East. The book has been named “Book of the Year” by Rudaw, the leading Kurdish news service, and has been celebrated by the Kurdish government in Iraqi Kurdistan. In 2016, Mansfield gave a much-viewed TEDx talk entitled The Kurds: The World’s Most Famous Unknown People. He continues to speak in the U.S. and abroad in support of the Kurdish cause.

Mansfield has also become an outspoken advocate for the cause of men. In 2013, he released Mansfield’s Book of Manly Men, which has inspired men’s events in the U.S. and Asia.

In addition to his work as an author, he has founded The Mansfield Group, a media training firm based in Washington DC. The firm is informed by Mansfield’s role as an international speaker and by his appearances as a faith and culture commentator on FOX and CNN. He is married to songwriter and producer Beverly Darnall. They make their homes in both Nashville, TN and Washington, D.C.