# Why was the Big Book written, and when?

**In short:**
- The Big Book, *Alcoholics Anonymous*, was written in 1938 and early 1939 and published in April 1939, when the fellowship had about a hundred members.
- Its own foreword gives the reason: to show other alcoholics exactly how the first members recovered.
- By late 1937 Bill W. and Dr. Bob could see that their method worked, but word of mouth was too slow to reach the millions who needed it, and the message would get garbled as it spread. A book could go where they couldn't.
- The fellowship took its name from the book.

## What the book says about itself

**Foreword to the First Edition (1939).** The first paragraph states the aim: "To show other alcoholics precisely how we have recovered is the main purpose of this book." (p. xiii). It also hopes to help everyone understand that the alcoholic is a very sick person (p. xiii), and it asks to hear from readers who get results, "particularly from those who have commenced work with other alcoholics" (p. xiv).

**Chapter 11, "A Vision for You" (1939).** The last chapter pictures what the authors hoped the book would do: that "when this chip of a book is launched on the world tide of alcoholism" (p. 153), defeated drinkers would follow it, approach other sick drinkers, and start fellowships in every city (p. 153). It speaks directly to a reader who may never meet them: "We believe and hope it contains all you will need to begin." (p. 163). And it stays modest: "Our book is meant to be suggestive only." (Chapter 11, p. 164).

**Foreword to the Second Edition (1955).** Looking back, it says that by late 1937 enough members had lasting sobriety to convince them "a new light had entered the dark world of the alcoholic" (p. xvii). "It was now time, the struggling groups thought, to place their message and unique experience before the world." (p. xvii). The result was this volume, published in the spring of 1939, when membership "had then reached about 100 men and women" (p. xvii). "The fledgling society, which had been nameless, now began to be called Alcoholics Anonymous, from the title of its own book." (p. xvii).

## How the decision was made (later accounts)

**P-44, *A.A.'s Legacy of Service*** (Bill W., describing events up to 1955; pamphlet © 2018). In 1937, at Dr. Bob's home in Akron, the two men added up two years' work and saw for the first time that recovery on a large scale was possible (P-44). The question was how a few recovered alcoholics could reach millions (P-44). They met with eighteen members of the Akron group; the majority wanted hospitals, paid workers and, above all, "a book for other alcoholics that could explain to them our methods and results" (P-44). The big money never came: John D. Rockefeller, Jr. gave $5,000 but declined to give more "for fear of professionalizing A.A." (P-44). Bill drafted the first two chapters in the late spring of 1938 for a fund-raising prospectus that failed, turned down a publisher's advance, and with a friend set up the fellowship's own book company, because: "It was evident that our Society ought to own and publish its own literature." (P-44). Akron, New York and Cleveland members wrote 28 stories, and the drafts were argued over for months; Bill says, "I became much more of an umpire than I ever was an author." (P-44). "The book finally appeared in April, 1939." (P-44).

**A.A. Comes of Age (1957).** Bill tells the same November 1937 meeting in more detail. Word of mouth was slow, and it was also dangerous, because the message might be "garbled and twisted beyond recognition" (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957). "A book of experience could carry our message to distant places we could never visit ourselves." (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957). It could also "prevent the otherwise inevitable garble and distortion that would start as soon as publicity came" (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957). The Akron meeting approved the plan only by the barest majority, and a strong minority rejected paid missionaries and hospitals; Bill later said that minority was right about those (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957). The story section was finished in late January 1939 (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957).

## The dates, as the sources give them

| Step | When | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Bill and Dr. Bob count about forty sober and decide to spread the message | November 1937 | *Comes of Age* (1957); P-44 says "1937" |
| Bill drafts the first two chapters | late spring 1938 | P-44 |
| The Twelve Steps are written | 1938 | P-53, Bill W.'s 1969 talk; Dr. Bob's 1948 talk ("It wasn't until 1938") |
| Story section and text finished | late January 1939 | *Comes of Age* (1957) |
| Book published | April 1939 ("spring of 1939" in the 1955 foreword, p. xvii) | P-44; *Comes of Age* (1957) |

The sources agree on these dates. The Big Book itself, in 1939, doesn't date its own writing; the details come from Bill's later accounts.

## Why it matters

The reason the book gives for itself is practical: there were only about a hundred members, and they wanted to show other alcoholics precisely how they had recovered (p. xiii). Bill's later accounts add that they couldn't reach every drinker in person and wanted a text that would carry the message without being twisted (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957). It was written so that "one man with this book in your hand" (p. 163) could begin the same work alone.

## Read it yourself
- Foreword to the First Edition (pp. xiii–xiv), free from A.A.: https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_forewordfirstedition.pdf
- Foreword to the Second Edition (pp. xv–xxi): https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_forewordsecondedition.pdf
- Chapter 11, *A Vision for You* (pp. 151–164): https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_chapt11.pdf
- P-44, *A.A.'s Legacy of Service*, on aa.org: https://www.aa.org/aas-legacy-service
- *A.A. Comes of Age* is sold by A.A. World Services: https://onlineliterature.aa.org
- Related: *What does the Foreword to the First Edition say A.A. is for?* · *How many members were there in 1939?*

## Sources
| Source | Pages | Date |
|---|---|---|
| *Alcoholics Anonymous*, Foreword to the First Edition | xiii–xiv | 1939 |
| *Alcoholics Anonymous*, Chapter 11, "A Vision for You" | 153, 163–164 | 1939 |
| Foreword to the Second Edition | xvii | 1955 |
| P-44, *A.A.'s Legacy of Service* (Bill W.) | — | text describes events through 1955; pamphlet © 2018 |
| P-53, Bill W.'s last major talk; Dr. Bob's last major talk | — | October 1969; December 1948; pamphlet © 2017 |
| *A.A. Comes of Age* | — | 1957 |

Big Book page numbers are from the fourth edition (2001).

*Recovery Starts is independent and not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous. Quotations are brief and cited; the Big Book, P-44, P-53 and* A.A. Comes of Age *are © A.A. World Services, Inc.*