Links
The
Plymouth
House
Located in
Plymout
h,
New Hampshire
, The Plymouth House is a recovery center dedicated to teaching the principles of the Twelve-Step Program while providing a safe environment for recovery. If you or a loved one are struggling with addiction or would like to work the Twelve Steps in a retreat environment, you might consider a stay at the Plymouth House.
All Addicts Anonymous
Founded in the 50s by Tom Powers, All Addicts Anonymous address a wide variety of issues with the Twelve Steps. Of special interest is the East Ridge community, an intentional community for spiritually-centered Twelve Step living.
Hindsfoot Foundation
Hindsfoot Foundation is the premiere publisher of AA history. Their site offers sample chapters from their books, as well as other articles of interest. Highly recommended.
The Big Books of Alcoholics Anonymous and the Twelve Steps
Recovery U offers this free video series in which four Big Book sponsors are interviewed about their experience and insights on each of the Twelve Steps.
AA History Lovers Yahoo Group
This is a great place to raise questions about the history of the Twelve Steps. Moderated by Glenn Chesnut of Hindsfoot Foundation and frequented by the likes of Ernest Kurtz, author of Not God, this group is serious about its history. Got an AA history question? You'll get a good answer here.
silkworth.net
Silkworth.net provides a great deal of information that is not available elsewhere. Here are reproduced the Big Book's first edition stories; a complete collection of papers by Dr. Silkworth, who wrote "A Docotor's Opinion" in the AA Big Book; biographies for many of the authors of Big Book stories; and some writings on alcoholism by Dr. Harry Tiebout, the psychiatrist who treated Bill Wilson for depression.
NA History Page
This is a directory of many important NA history sites. Included on this list is the NArchive, which hosts real audio files of speeches by Jimmy K., founder of NA. Links on the NA history page contain early, unapproved versions of NA literature, including the Santamonica Version of the Basic Text and the Chicagoland draft of It Works.
AA Grapevine Digital Archives
The entire backlog of the Grapevine has been placed online and can be searched for free. Access to full articles is available for a small subscription fee.
AA Bibliography
This site contians many articles of interest to Twelve-Step history. Especially interesting is the collection of Oxford Group pamphlets, which are available for download.
Jimmy K.
Wikipedia's entry pulls together the information that is available on the web about this man who is widely considered the founder of Narcotics Anonymous.
Dick B.'s Materials on AA's Bible Roots
Dick B. is known as a prolific writer of AA history. He has done a great deal of research on the connection between the Oxford Group and early AA. Dick B's materials are written from a Christian perspective.
GSO Watch
The self-appointed watchdog of the AA General Service Office, this site contains articles on the German and Mexican contraveries. Also here is a complete analysis of the differences between the 1st edition of the Big Book and all later editions.
Secret Agent Orange
In order to fully understand the Twelve Steps, one must give fair hearing to their critics. Among critics of the Steps, Secret Agent Orange is by far the most thorough and informed. The twelve secrets page offers a good overview of the Agent's criticisms. "AA's religious roots" offers some insight into the history of AA's relationship with the Oxford Group. Also noteworthy are the Agent's scathing expose of Bill Wilson's womanizing, and his inclusion of a historical criticism of the Oxford Group.
Christian Recovery International
This site hosts a large network of Christian recovery organizations in the US and worldwide, including The National Association for Christian Recovery (NACR), and the International Association of Christian Twelve-Step Ministries. The NACR offers a popular daily meditation series.
Project CORK
Project CORK offers an online database of journal articles related to substance abuse. The database is searchable, but is also indexed by a series of bibliographies, inluding one of all articles related to AA.
William James
This site hosts links to items relating to the life and work of William James, whose collected lectures The Varieties of Religious Experience (VRE) informed the thinking of the Oxford Group and helped Bill Wilson to understand his conversion experience. A link to the complete text of the VRE can be found here, as well as scholarly work on the book.
Henry Drummond
Mr. Drummond had a great impact upon the practices of the Oxford Group. This website contains many of his writings, including Spiritual Diagnosis, an essay that is quoted heavily in the Oxford Group booklet, "Soul Surgery."
Christian Classics Ethereal Library
CCEL is a vast collection of classic works of Christian theology and spirituality, all available free from their site. A few titles of special interest are The Practice of the Presence of God, a classic widely-read in AA, and especially The Secret of Guidance by F.B. Meyer, a theologian whose thoughts on divine guidance considerably influenced Frank Buchman and the Oxford Group.
Charles G. Finney
A great evangelist of the early 19th century, Mr. Finney's style of working with others deeply influenced the methods of personal evangelism in America up to this day. His lecture, "How to Promote a Revival," reads almost exactly like a Fourth Step inventory guide. This lecture alone makes it clear that the root of the Twelve Steps lies in the American evangelical tradition.
