Alcoholics Anonymous

The
Big BookThe Original 1939 Edition

“The story of how more than one hundred men have recovered from alcoholism.”

First Edition · Works Publishing · 1939

01 Bill’s Story p. 1 02 There Is a Solution p. 17 03 More About Alcoholism p. 30 04 We Agnostics p. 44 05 How It Works p. 58 06 Into Action p. 72 07 Working With Others p. 89 08 To Wives p. 104 09 The Family Afterward p. 122 10 To Employers p. 136 11 A Vision for You p. 151

This is the complete first edition, published April 1939 by Works Publishing Company — the original text, before the revisions of 1955, 1976, and 2001. We typeset it ourselves from the public-domain edition so it could live here, free and without ads, the way the founders first set it down. The daily reflection on our home page links straight to the page each line was first printed on.

Text in the public domain. This is an independent typesetting by the Sober Network and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.