December 2001

Does this edition have a new cover?

If you have a drinking problem, we hope that you may pause in reading one of the forty personal stories and think: 'Yes, that happened to me'; or, more important, 'Yes, I've felt like that'; or, most important of all, 'Yes, I believe this program can work

Why change the Big Book?

After the first edition of the Big Book was published in 1939, two subsequent editions were published: the second in 1955, and the third in 1976. In both editions, the only change made was to the story section. Bill W. felt strongly that the stories had to be changed. When he was putting together the second edition, he wrote: "The main purpose of the revision is to bring the story section up to date, to portray more adequately a cross section of those who have found help--the audience for the book is people who are coming to Alcoholics Anonymous now. Those who are here have already heard our stories."