This collection of stories offers back to the A. A. Fellowship the experience of 56 members whose stories are no longer available in the book Alcoholics Anonymous. There have been three revisions of the Big Book's story section, and each time, as new stories were added to reflect A. A. 's changing membership, others had to be dropped to make room for them. Over the three years, more and more A. A. members requested a separate publication of these stories, and as the General Service Conference moved toward publication of a fourth edition of the Big Book, it concurrently asked for publication of this collection, which was approved in 2002. Co-founder Bill W. was keenly aware of the importance of personal stories, and as he began work on collecting new material for the second edition, he wrote: "The story section of the Big Book... is our principal means of identifying with the reader outside of A. A. ; it is the written equivalent of hearing speakers at an A. A. meeting; it is our show window of results. " Today, these stories provide a fascinating glimpse into A. A. 's past, for most of the writers got sober before the Traditions were adopted, at a time when the Fellowship was still striving to learn the lessons of its collective victories and mistakes.