Aa, the Way It Began [Paperback]

Bill Pittman (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 255 pages
• Publisher: Glen Abbey Books; 1st edition (April 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0934125082
• ISBN-13: 978-0934125086
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,138,093 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Mixed Bag--with a major flaw, May 18, 2009

By 

John B. Coffin (El Cerrito, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Aa, the Way It Began (Paperback)

Pittman gives a fine, brief, overview on alcoholism, temperance movements, and medical fashions in the (mis)treatment of alcoholism before AA.

Unfortunately, like most current 'AA History' enthusiasts, Pittman appears to be trying to whitewash the Oxford Group. e.g.: He lists 'The Fool Hath Said,' by Beverly Nichols as a source on the Group. This is a gushing account of Nichols' recruitment into the OG. Less than a year later, in 'All I Could Never Be,' Nichols recounted his mental breakdown after discovering the deceptive manner in which he had been manipulated by the group.

Nichols sharply criticised the group again in a later autobiography, and contributed an interview to Tom Driberg's 'The Mystery of Moral Re-Armament,' (1965) the most thorough expose of the Group to date