Alcoholics Anonymous, published by AA World Services, Inc. was originally published in 1939, when A.A. membership numbered about one hundred, and since then, Alcoholics Anonymous, published by AA World Services, Inc. has steadily grown in readership. By the time the second edition appeared in 1955, AA membership had reached over 150,000, and the “Big Book,” AA members’ fond title for their basic text, had reached a distribution of more than 300,000.
At the time of the publication of the third edition of Alcoholics Anonymous, published by AA World Services, Inc., in 1976, the worldwide membership of A.A. was estimated at 1,000,000 or more. Copies of “Alcoholics Anonymous” in circulation exceeded 1,450,000. In 1995, the General Service Conference approved the recommendation: “The first 164 pages of the Big Book, ‘Alcoholics Anonymous,’ the Preface, the forwards, ‘The Doctor’s opinion,’ ‘Doctor Bob’s Nightmare’ and the Appendices remain as is.”