Stephen Mansfield is a New York Times bestselling author and popular speaker best known for his groundbreaking books on religion, history, and contemporary culture. He writes for several leading news organizations, appears regularly on television discussion programs and is an outspoken advocate for a number of social causes.

Mansfield grew up largely in Europe due to his father’s career as an officer in the United States Army. After a youth filled with sports, travel, and mischief, he was recruited to play college football but turned down the opportunity when a Christian conversion moved him to attend a leading Christian college.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in history and philosophy, he moved to Texas where he pastored a church, completed two master’s degrees, hosted a radio program and began acquiring a reputation as a popular speaker of both depth and humor. He moved to Tennessee in 1991 where he pastored what at that time was one of the nation’s leading mega-churches, worked among the Kurds of Kurdistan, completed a doctorate, and served as a political consultant.

It was during this time that he also launched the writing career for which he has become internationally known. His first book, on Winston Churchill, was a Gold Medallion Award Finalist. He also wrote widely acclaimed biographies of Booker T. Washington and George Whitefield, as well as a number of other highly regarded books on history and leadership. In 1997, the governor of Tennessee commissioned Mansfield to write the official history of religion in Tennessee for that state’s bicentennial.

In 2002, Stephen left the pastorate after twenty fruitful years to write and lecture. Not long after, he wrote The Faith of George W. Bush, which spent many weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and won numerous national awards. The book was also a source for Oliver Stone’s acclaimed film, W, which chronicled Bush’s rise to the presidency.

This international bestseller led to a string of influential books over the following decade. Stephen wrote The Faith of the American Soldier after being embedded with U.S. troops in Iraq in 2005. He also wrote about the ascent of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to the papacy in Benedict XVI: His Life and Mission. His book The Faith of Barack Obama was another international bestseller and captured broad media attention in the U.S. during the presidential race of 2008. Disturbed by crumbling moral values in portions of American corporate culture, he wrote The Search for God and Guinness, which instantly placed him in demand for corporate gatherings around the world.

Stephen continues to write books about faith and culture—recently on figures as varied as Oprah Winfrey and Abraham Lincoln. His latest book, Killing Jesus, is typical of his approach to faith and history. It is a gritty portrayal of the trial and crucifixion of Jesus, which has received praise for being thoroughly researched and movingly written.

Mansfield is the founder of The Mansfield Group, a successful consulting and communications firm that specializes in training leaders to communicate well. He is also the founder of Chartwell Literary Group, a firm that creates and manages literary projects.

In recent years, Stephen’s popularity as a speaker has nearly eclipsed his reputation as a bestselling author. He is known for blending humor, history and a hopeful approach to the challenges of the moment into speeches that entertain and inspire.

Mansfield lives in Nashville and Washington DC with his beloved wife, Beverly, who is an award-winning songwriter and producer.