An extraordinary reproduction of the original working manuscript of Alcoholics Anonymous, with essays and notes by a panel of celebrated AA historians. The Book That Started It All offers fresh insights into the history and foundation of the revolutionary Alcoholics Anonymous program. Reproduced in this elegant gift edition with essays and notes by a panel of celebrated AA historians, the original working manuscript is the missing link in our understanding of what transpired between AA founder Bill Wilson's first draft of Alcoholics Anonymous and the first published edition. In January 1939, Wilson and other AA founders distributed 400 copies of his typescript to everyone they could think of "who might be concerned with the problem of alcoholism," to test out the program.