The Little Red Book: The Original 1946 Edition

This is a comparison of the facsimile of The Original 1946 Edition of The Little Red Book published by Full Length History Press with my original copy. There are three differences which are kind of nit-picky. 1. The facsimile is soft cover, not hard cover. 2. The Big Book pages referenced in the facsimile are from the more recent Big Books, not from the First Printing. 3. The facsimile has two blank sheets at the end while the original has only one. That’s a real nit pick, and I would rather have a hard cover book, but they really have done an excellent job and the price is only $13-$15 on eBay. I have forgotten what I paid thirty years or so ago. The rarest and most difficult LRBs to procure when I was collecting were the original that we are discussing here and the printing that has two upside-down lines of text. I have no idea what these cost now. One nice thing the publishers did was to replicate an inscription by Dr. Bob on the first page with any printing. I haven’t counted that as a difference, just a nice touch. In the original the PO Box number on the title page is scratched out and “564” handwritten in, and this is duplicated in the facsimile. Also, on the copyright page “INTERNATIONAL” and “BY COLL-WEBB CO.” is rubber stamped on the correct places in the facsimile, both nice touches. The font of the facsimile is ever so slightly larger than the original, but the sentence breaks are exactly the same. The page contents of the facsimile are exactly the same as the original, with the exception noted above. The page numbers, which are written out in capital letters, are lined up with the left or right margins as appropriate. In short, the publishers did a superior job in producing this facsimile and it would make a nice addition to your Little Red Book collection.

I’m in recovery and love this book on the steps

This book is very straight forward in what each step is & how to go about completing them. I love how simple it makes the steps. I highly recommend it to anyone who is starting on a 12 step program whether it's AA, NA or any of the other programs. It will definitely help you to get a better understanding of each of the 12 steps. Best of Luck in Your Journey!

This book is amazing. It offer and expansion of the AA Program through explanation and knowledge transfer. This book was endorsed by both Bill W. and Dr. Bob. They saw the usefulness of this book and suggested its use as a tool to sobriety. It is well written and direct. No mamby-pamby softer-gentler AA. Straight talk, no BS, gitterdun:) For those of you who jump to the "its not conference approved" rejection............stow that junk! There is no such rule, law, suggestion, indication or any other possible twist of truth that says ONLY conference approved material can be used in AA. That is true ONLY if an individual group votes such a bylaw via THEIR group conscious. In fact, the GSO has issued a statement that SPECIFICALLY STATES that conference "approval" does not DISAPPROVE anything. If you disagree......Google it and do a little reading................"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which can not fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance-that principle is contempt prior to investigation."

The original version of this is by far the best. It is simple and reflects back to the original text That was the big book, Alcoholics Anonymous. I got sober in 1982, but was introduced to this book in 1980. I went to a step study that was chaired out of this book. It gave me a framework which later brought about my recovery. I am grateful for the lifetime of sobriety that I have, and for the people that helped me along the way, this little book was the beginning.

No nonsense. To the point. A eye opener for the alcoholic sufferer. Compassionate. Accurate concerning the disease of Alcohoism. Thanks

Great little addition to any AA 12 step literature. The seller was quick and efficient!

This is a great read to clarify and enhance your program. Covers the steps in modern langusge

Great book. Highly recommended

The Little Red Book was first introduced to me by my second sponsor. I have found it absolutely essential as a supplement to the Big Book (along with the 12/12), as its description of alcoholism and the steps is succinct and direct. One does not require a dictionary when reading this with a sponsee. As simple the solution in the Big Book is, the Little Red Book is even simpler. In regard to the two versions of the Little Red Book that I have read, it is important to note that, while the original 1945 version is fantastic in itself, the more recent version has modified many of the sentences, has different page structure and includes summarizations and treatments at the end of each step. If two or more people are together reading separate versions, one can get a little lost. Make sure that everyone has the same version. One more note..there is another edition (1952?) from Martino Fine Books which I haven’t read yet. Some say that this version is the ‘original’ ‘real deal’ version and that it is not ‘watered down’ like the Hazleden version. More will be revealed.

Un exelente libro de ayuda que va de la mano con el libro azul.

Great book only works if you want it

Make this part of your recovery