William Griffith Wilson (Bill W.) was born in 1895 and died in 1971. In Akron Ohio, in 1935, along with Dr. Bob, he founded what later would come to be known as Alcoholics Anonymous, and he subsequently devoted his life to its mission.As a founder and world-famous proponent of Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill W. told his story many times-but only in part, always with an eye to helping others out of the depths he could describe so well. Finally, though, near the age of sixty, knowing that his biography would surely be written and that there would be considerable interest in the circumstances behind his achievements, Bill W. began in tape recordings and notes, to "set the record somewhere near straight." The result is this book, a thoroughly engaging account of Bill W.'s life from childhood through manhood, rendered with the immediacy, directness, and characteristic charm of his speech.