Alhoholics Anonymous Basic Text Fourth Edition Book
 
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN 1939, when A.A. membership numbered about one hundred, "Alcoholics Anonymous" has steadily grown in readership. By the time the second edition appeared in 1955, membership had reached over 150,000, and the "Big Book," A.A. members' fond title for their basic text, had reached a distribution of more than 300,000. At the time of the third edition, in March 1976, the worldwide membership of A.A. was estimated at 1,000,000 or more. Copies of "Alcoholics Anonymous" in circulation exceeded 1,450.000. The basic text, pages 1-164, which had been the foundation of recovery for so many alcoholics remained, and still remains, unchanged.  The section of personal stories was updated with new stories in the second and third editions in order to reflect the wider age range and different life experiences of alcoholics over the years since 1935, when Bill W. met Dr. Bob and the message of A.A. was born. As Bill W. wrote in a 1953 letter: "The story section of the Big Book is far more important than most of us think. It is our principal means of identifying with the reader outside A.A; it is the written equivalent of hearing speakers at an A.A. meeting; it is our show window of results."
 
Condition: Good condition.