Alcoholics Anonymous Comes Of Age - First Printing in Great Britain from 1976

This book is the Alcoholics Anonymous Comes Of Age First Printing in Great Britain from 1976. This book was published by A.A. STERLING AREA SERVICES in London.

The spine of the book and dust jacket of the American printings of AA Comes of Age identified who published the book; A.A. Publishing, Inc., Harpers, or Alcoholics Anonymous World Services. The Great Britain First Printings do not identify the publisher on the spine or on the dust jacket. The only mention of the publisher is on the title page and copyright page.

Here is the Foreword to AA Comes of Age:

This book is for A.A. members and their friends. It is for all who are interested to know the history of how A.A. started, how its principles of Recovery, Unity, and Service were evolved, and by what means this fellowship has grown and spread its message around the world. Here is an inside and wide-angled view of Alcoholics Anonymous.

The first part of the book presents a panoramic sketch of the historic St. Louis Convention at which the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous came of age and assumed full responsibility for all its affairs.

The second part includes three talks, edited and enlarged, on the history of A.A. Recovery, Unity, and Service, which were given by co-founder Bill W. at the St. Louis gathering.

The third part is devoted to addresses of a number of A.A.'s friends, all of them notable in their several fields: Dr. Harry M. Tiebout, psychiatrist, Dr. W. W. Bauer of the American Medical Association, Father Edward Dowling of the Jesuit order, Dr. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Episcopal clergyman, and Mr. Bernard B. Smith, New York attorney and former Chairman of the General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous. These friends tell of their association with Alcoholics Anonymous, the part they played in its development, and their view of what the future holds for this society.

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Here is a message about AA Comes of Age written by Bill in 1967 which is included on the front pages of the book:

“Dear Friends,

As you read coming pages, it will be seen that their historical content is not arranged in a conventional, straight-line time-sequence.

For the limited purposes of this book, it was deemed better to throw special emphasis on our A.A. Legacies of Recovery, Unity and Service by separately telling the stories of those crucial developments. This has the merit of focusing attention upon them, one concept at a time.

Nevertheless some members may prefer to start reading at page 51, which leads quickly into the early A.A. story as it relates to our present-day program of recovery.

The title of this volume, A.A. Comes of Age, is now and then questioned because it conveys to some people the idea that we A.A.'s really think we have "grown up"; that we have already achieved great emotional maturity.

In reality, the expression "comes of age" is used by us in a very different sense. We simply say that we have arrived at the time of life when adult responsibilities have to be faced and dealt with, as best we are able. To this end we do try to rely upon ourselves-and upon God.

Faithfully yours,

Bill W.

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This book is in good condition. There is some minor wear and stains to this cover. There is no writing or markings inside this book. This book has an original  dust jacket. The jacket has experienced edge wear.

Please view all of the photos for the conditions.