The Story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism (generally known as The Big Book because of the thickness of the paper used in the first edition) was published in 1939. It is the basic text of AA, describing how to recover from alcoholism, primarily written by William G. “Bill W.” Wilson, one of the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). It is the originator of the seminal “twelve-step method” widely used to treat alcoholism with strong spiritual and social emphasis.
It is one of the best-selling books of all time, having sold 30 million copies. In 2011, Time magazine placed the book on its list of the 100 best
and most influential books written in English since 1923, the year in which the magazine was first published. In 2012, the Library of Congress designated it as one of 88 “Books that Shaped America.” (taken from Wikipedia)
The Big Book (Fourth Edition)
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- Title Page – pp. iii
- Copyright Information – pp. ii
- Contents pp. v-x
- Preface – pp. xi-xii
- Foreword to First Edition – pp. xiii-xiv
- Foreword To Second Edition – pp. xv-xiv
- Foreword To Third Edition – pp. xxii
- Foreword To Fourth Edition – pp. xiii-xiv
- The Doctor’s Opinion pp. xxv-xxxii
Chapters
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- Ch 1 – Bill’s Story pp. 1-16
- Ch 2 – There is a Solution pp. 17-29
- Ch 3 – More About Alcoholism pp. 30-43
- Ch 4 – We Agnostics pp. 44-57
- Ch 5 – How It Works pp. 58-71
- Ch 6 – Into Action pp. 72-88
- Ch 7 – Working With Others pp. 89-103
- Ch 8 – To Wives pp. 104-121
- Ch 9 – The Family Afterward pp. 122-135
- Ch 10 – To Employers pp. 136-150
- Ch 11 – A Vision For You pp. 151-164
Personal Stories
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- How Forty-Two Alcoholics Recovered From Their Malady – pp. 165-166
- Part I – Pioneers of A.A. pp. 169-276
- Part II – They Stopped in Time pp. 277-431
- Part III – They Lost Nearly All pp. 435-559
Appendices
- i – The A.A. Tradition pp. 561-566
- ii – Spiritual Experience pp. 567-568
- iii – The Medical View On A.A. pp. 569-570
- iv – The Laskar Award pp. 571
- v – The Religious View on A.A. pp. 572
- vi – How to Get in Touch With A.A. pp. 573
- vii – Twelve Concepts (Short Form) pp. 574-575