Unlike previous chapters, Chapter 10 was not written entirely by Bill Wilson. In fact, it was penned by Hank Parkhurst, a friend and business associate of Bill’s who got sober in 1935. In the annals of AA history,

With few edits , Chapter 9 was republished in the Second Edition in 1955 as as a powerful and practical guide for families of alcoholics. Originally written by Bill W in the fall of 1938, Chapter 9 describes the dire impact that alcoholism has on famil...

Chapter 8's actual authorship has been widely speculated upon since it was first written in 1938. Many believe that Bill W.’s wife, Lois Wilson, may have written or contributed to the writing of this seminal chapter. Indeed,

Chapter 7, entitled Working With Others, from the 2nd edition of Alcoholics Anonymous was originally published in 1955. Again, few changes were made to this chapter between the first and second editions, but its powerful message of “You can’t keep it i...

With few changes from the First Edition, Chapter 6 remains a powerful guide for working the 5th through 11th steps of the AA Program. Interestingly, the 6th and 7th step were treated to only two paragraphs in the Big Book on page 76.

Chapter 5 is so important to Alcoholics Anonymous, that the first three pages of "How It Works" are commonly read at the beginning of many AA meetings. The chapter clearly lays out the 12 steps in the suggested program of recovery upon which AA is ba...

With few changes from the First Edition, Chapter 4's main objective is to enable readers to find a Power greater than themselves that would solve their problem. Though Chapter 4 was originally written to describe that Power in spiritual and moral terms...

Though few changes were made to Chapter 3 in the Second Edition published in 1955, there’s an interesting and notable asterisk at the end of a few sentences on the top of page 34 in the print version. Those two sentences,

A significant change was made to Chapter 2 when the Second Edition was printed in 1955. The First Edition referred to a “celebrated physician” who treated the American businessman, (later known as Rowland H).

The amazing story of AA's co-founder, Bill W., continues to inspire and guide Alcoholics Anonymous more than 85 years after its founding and 49 years after Bill's death in 1971. Bill’s Story, Chapter 1 in the 2nd Edition of the Big Book published in 19...