Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book (Hardcover)

It's more than a book. It's a way of life. Alcoholics Anonymous-the Big Book-has served as a lifeline to millions worldwide. First published in 1939, Alcoholics Anonymous sets forth cornerstone concepts of recovery from alcoholism and tells the stories of men and women who have overcome the disease. With publication of the second edition in 1955, the third edition in 1976, and now the fourth edition in 2001, the essential recovery text has remained unchanged while personal stories have been added to reflect the growing and diverse fellowship. The long-awaited fourth edition features 24 new personal stories of recovery.

Paperback, 436 pages    Author: Ernest Kurtz         ISBN: 0894860658
Publisher: Hazelden       Published Year: 1991

The most complete history of A.A. ever written. Not-God contains anecdotes and excerpts from the diaries, correspondence, and occasional memoirs of A.A.'s early figures. A fascinating, fast-moving, and authoritative account of the discovery and development of the program and fellowship that we know today as Alcoholics Anonymous.

Practice These Principles And What Is The Oxford Group?

Two-book volume, 164 pages    ISBN: 1568381506
Publisher: Hazelden                  Published Year: 1996

Those interested in A.A. history will find this two-book volume to be a must-have edition. Practice These Principles is an edited version of the original work, What is the Oxford Group? (full text reprinted) which served as a basis for the text of Alcoholics Anonymous. What is the Oxford Group? was written in 1932 and served as one of the core books for early A.A.s.

The First Lady of Alcoholics Anonymous

Hardcover, 404 pages     Author: Sally and David Brown    ISBN: 158386265 Publisher: Hazelden       Published Year: 2001

The little-known life of Marty Mann rivals a Masterpiece Theatre drama. She was born into a life of wealth and privilege, sank to the lowest depths of poverty and despair, then rose to inspire thousands of others, especially women, to help themselves. The first woman to achieve long-term sobriety in Alcoholics Anonymous, Marty Mann advocated the understanding that alcoholism is an issue of public health, not morality. In their fascinating book, Sally and David Brown shed light on this influential figure in recovery history. Born in Chicago in 1905, Marty was favored with beauty, brains, charisma, phenomenal energy, and a powerful will. She could also out drink anyone in her group of social elites. When her father became penniless, she was forced into work, landed a lucrative public relations position, and a decade later was destitute because of her drinking. She was committed to a psychiatric center in 1938-a time when the term alcoholism was virtually unknown, the only known treatment was "drying out," and two men were compiling the book Alcoholics Anonymous.

The absorbing and deeply moving life story of Bill Wilson,
co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous

Softcover, 344 pages     Author: Robert Thomsen    ISBN: 1568383436
Publisher: Hazelden      Published Year: 1999

This is the story of a man whose discovery and vision have changed the lives of millions of people throughout the world. Robert Thomsen's biography takes readers through the events of Bill W.'s life, all the while detailing Bill's growing dependence on alcohol. Thomsen writes of the collapse that brought Bill to the verge of death and of the luminousinstant of insight that saved him. This turning point led Bill to the encounter in 1935 with Dr. Bob and the start of what was to be a new beginning for countless others who despaired of finding rescue and redemption.

Ebby - The Man Who Sponsored Bill W.

Paperback, 96 pages      Author: Mel B.                   ISBN: 156838162X
Publisher: Hazelden       Published Year: 1997

In 1934, Ebby Thatcher called an old drinking buddy to tell him about the happiness he was finding in sobriety. His friend's name was Bill Wilson, and this book is the story of their life-long friendship. It is both a fascinating history of the formative years of Alcoholics Anonymous, as well as the bitter-sweet tale of the troubled man Bill W. always referred to as "my sponsor."

Paperback, 749 pages       Author: Dick B.        ISBN: 1885803079
Publisher: Paradise Research Publications          Published Year: 1997

After eight years of research and writing, author Dick B. published this exhaustive reference title on the history of early A.A.'s spiritual roots and successes. It is a landmark and unique. Current histories simply ignore the details of A.A.'s spiritual roots or dismiss them with inadequate summaries of criticisms. If you want materials on where A.A. came from spiritually, why it had such an astonishing success rate in its early days, and how far it has strayed from its origins, this is the book for you. It contains manuscripts and references never before published. And it exhaustively details A.A.'s six major roots in the Bible, Quiet Time, the teachings of Rev. Sam Shoemaker, the life-changing program of the Oxford Group, Anne Smith's Journal, and the Christian literature they studied. No Twelve Step, treatment, clinician, or clergy library should be without it.

Silkworth - The Little Doctor Who Loved Drunks

Hardcover, 288 pages     Author: Dale Mitchel       ISBN: 1568387946
Publisher: Hazelden       Published Year: 2002

"Alcoholism is an obsession of the mind that condemns one to drink and an allergy of the body that condemns one to die." In the 1930s, this statement by Dr. William Duncan Silkworth flew in the face of conventional wisdom that alcoholism was a moral failing. Risking his professional reputation, Dr. Silkworth articulated the medical observations and spiritual principles that helped to make the Alcoholics Anonymous program the success story it is today.

Courage To Change Softcover

Softcover, 223 pages.  Author: Dick B. and Bill Pittman   ISBN: 1568382456 Publisher: Hazelden    Published Year: 1998

Courage to Change deals with the influence of Sam Shoemaker on the early years of Alcoholics Anonymous, the writing of the Twelve Steps, and the book Alcoholics Anonymous. Bill Wilson proclaimed at the 1955 International AA Convention, "The early AA got its ideas of self-examination, acknowledgment of character defects, restitution for harm done, and working with others straight from the Oxford Group and directly from Sam Shoemaker."

Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age (Hardcover)

Nearly half a century has gone by since A.A.'s historic 1955 Convention in St. Louis, when the founding members passed on to the entire Fellowship the responsibility for the three Legacies of Recovery, Unity, and Service. This book takes A.A. members and interested friends on a quick tour of the Convention, traces the history and development of the Three Legacies, and looks at A.A. through the eyes of some early nonalcoholics who influenced the Fellowship's history.

Paperback, 162 pages       Author: Dick B.        ISBN: 1885803249
Publisher: Paradise Research Publications          Published Year: 1999

Anne Ripley Smith was the wife of A.A. co-founder Dr. Bob. She compiled and shared with early AAs and their families the materials comprising early A.A.'s spiritual program--the Bible, Quiet Time, the teachings of Sam Shoemaker, the principles of the Oxford Group, and Christian literature of the day. This priceless source of information about where A.A. came from, what it did in the early days, and what its ideas mean has been presented concisely and thoroughly by author Dick B. This is the third edition.

Sister Ignatia, Second Edition

Softcover, 300 pages       ISBN: 1568387466
Publisher: Hazelden        Published Year: 2001

Sister Mary Ignatia Gavin epitomized the spirit of love, service, and honesty that today are the hallmarks of Alcoholics Anonymous. As a hospital admissions officer in the 1930s in Akron, Ohio, Sr. Ignatia befriended Dr. Bob Smith, co-founder of AA, and courageously arranged for the hospitalization of alcoholics at a time when alcoholism was viewed as a character weakness rather than a disease.

Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers

Hardcover, 383 pages Nineteenth printing                     ISBN: 0916856070
Publisher: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.  Published Year: 1980

This book attempts to give a portrait of Dr. Bob as full-scale and balanced as possible-for the most part, in the words of those who knew him personally. The youngster who grew up in Vermont of the late 19th century became a hard-drinking college boy, then a medical student fighting the onset of his own alcoholism a respected physician, a loving but increasingly unreliable family man, and at last a desperately ill drunk, without hope until he met a stockbroker from New York-Bill W., who urgently needed a fellow alcoholic to help him maintain his own sobriety.

Women Pioneers in 12 Step Recovery

Softcover, 328 pages      Author: Joan Zieger     ISBN: 1568381638
Publisher: Hazelden Pittman Archives Press       Published Year: 1998

"For some reason, we alcoholics seem to have the gift of picking out the world's finest women." So said Alcoholics Anonymous cofounder Dr. Robert Holbrook Smith (better known to millions of AA's as Dr. Bob). Speaking directly to his wife Anne, Dr. Bob was also indirectly addressing the extraordinary role played by women in the beginning, growth, and continuing strength of Alcoholics Anonymous. This book profiles some of these remarkable women--women like Anne Smith herself, generally credited with being the first to recognize and foster the spiritual force that passed between Bill W. And Dr. Bob, later embodied in the Twelve Steps; the beloved Lois Wilson, wife of AA cofounder Bill Wilson and herself the founder of Al-Anon; Nancy O'D., one of the first women to sober up in AA in the New York area; and Ruth Hock, the devoted, indefatigable, and often unpaid contributor to the preparations for the publication of the book Alcoholics Anonymous. Here we see the challenges these women and others faced, as well as the feats of character and flashes of genius that carried them through.

Paperback, 184 pages         Author: Emmet Fox       ISBN: 0060628626 Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers Inc.

Philosopher and early A.A. influence Emmet Fox suggests Jesus' teachings as a practical approach to shaping life into what people really wish it to be. A cornerstone reference in A.A.'s spiritual development, this book has a place in every recovery library.

Pass It On

Hardcover, 431 pages Seventeenth printing                  ISBN: 0916856127 Publisher: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.  Published Year: 1984

Here is Bill W., the man everybody knew and nobody knew. Here too, inextricably entwined with his life, is the dramatic story of the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous, its early struggles and amazing growth. Bill's character was complex and contradictory. Although we always tried to place him on a pedestal, he strove for genuine humility, declining honors and stressing the spiritual value of anonymity. The co-founder A.A., because he was never a member of A.A., because we never allowed him to be.

The Roots of Alcoholics Anonymous

Softcover, 252 pages         Author: Bill Pittman         ISBN: 1568385056
Publisher: Hazelden Pittman Archives Press              Published Year: 1988

The never before told story of the forces that inspired the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous. The Roots of Alcoholics Anonymous is a fascinating history of treatment for alcoholism that traces society's shifting sentiments towards recovery. Author Bill Pittman uncovers a wealth of new and fascinating information about the people, movements and organizations behind Alcoholics Anonymous. Pittman has dug deeply into the early history of AA. He has used recent scholarship on the subject well and done a mountain of new research. The entire Alcohol Studies field should find this book highly interesting. Penny Booth Page, Rutgers Center for Alcohol Studies

Paperback, 260 pages       Author: Dick B.        ISBN: 1885803303
Publisher: Paradise Research Publications          Published Year: 2000

By the Power of God is the 15th title by A.A.'s leading historian and "unofficial historian" Dick B. It shows the exact roots of early A.A. in the Bible, Quiet Time, the teachings of Rev. Sam Shoemaker, the life-changing program of the Oxford Group, Anne Smith's Journal, and the Christian literature of the 1930's. Tells the program as it then was. Describes the early meetings. Illustrates how these highly successful early meetings can be followed today with the same 75% to 93% success rate that early AAs achieved "by the power of God."

Paperback, 278 pages   Author: Leonard Blumberg, William Pittman         ISBN: 0934125228       Publisher: Glen Abbey Books    Published Year: 1991

Paperback, 137 pages       Author: Dick B.        ISBN: 1885803257
Publisher: Paradise Research Publications          Published Year: 1999

The account of the hundreds of spiritual books that Dr. Bob, co-founder of A.A., read and recommended to early AAs and their families. Also, details on his church life and early work and training in Christian Endeavor. Third Edition, 1998

Paperback       Author: Bob Smith, Sue Smith, Sue Smith       
ISBN: 1568383126        Publisher: HCI          Published Year: 1994

Only two people witnessed and could describe the whole story of the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) when when Bill Wilson came to Akron and collaborated with Dr. Bob Smith. Those two observers are the children of Dr. Bob Smith, telling their eyewitness accounts of the birth of Twelve-Step Recovery. Recording life inside the house at 855 Ardmore Avenue in 1935 and beyond, Sue Smith Windows and Bob (Smitty) Smith paint a powerful picture of how one person’s recovery does not guarantee that of the family. Each child has discovered the truth that so many other AA members have, that only the individual can find his or her own answers, and only when there is nowhere to turn but to AA, the most likely place for help. Smitty ends his story with the above quote, which declares the wishes of both children that the unvarnished truth be recorded. Their candid remarks unveil the story inside the walls of the house on Ardmore Avenue.

Hardcover, 320 pages           Author: Susan Cheever        ISBN: 074320154X
Publisher: Simon & Schuster          Published Year: 2004

In this thoroughly researched and groundbreaking biography of Bill Wilson, cofounder of Alcoholics Anonymous, acclaimed author Susan Cheever creates a remarkably human portrait of a man whose life and work both influenced and saved the lives of millions of people. Drawn from personal letters and diaries, records in a variety of archives, and hundreds of interviews, this definitive biography is the first fully documented account of Bill Wilson's life story.

Paperback, 243 pages       Author: Dick B.        ISBN: 1885803168
Publisher: Paradise Research Publications          Published Year: 1997

The author shows conclusively that A.A.'s program of recovery came primarily from the Bible. This is a history of A.A.'s biblical roots as they can be seen in A.A.'s Big Book, Twelve Steps, and Fellowship.