About April 1939

Search and read the 1939 Big Book, privately, on your own device.

What it does

April 1939 searches the 1939 first edition of the Big Book. Ask a question in your own words, or type a phrase you remember.

It finds passages that may speak to what you're looking for. The main text (the Foreword, The Doctor's Opinion and Chapters 1–11) comes first, then the personal stories.

Find

The Find page works differently. Enter a word or phrase to see how often it appears in each chapter and story, and every passage that contains it.

Find counts words, not ideas, so it won't catch a subject the book describes in different language.

Read

Read the whole book one chapter or story at a time, with the 1939 page numbers in the margin.

April 1939 does not write answers, give advice, or speak for Alcoholics Anonymous. If the book doesn't address a question, the app says so.

The book's exact words

Every passage is the first edition's own text
April 1939 is the month the first edition of the Big Book was printed, and that printing is the text this site searches and reads. It was compared page by page with a facsimile of that printing. Details are in Credits & legal.
Every passage shows its chapter or story and printed page number, so you can check it in a first-edition copy. Read in the book opens it in its chapter.

Your privacy

Your question stays on your device

Search runs in your browser. The site never receives what you type, and nothing is saved.

No accounts, no cookies

No sign-in, cookies or ads. Your question never appears in the web address, so it stays out of your browser history.

Official editions

Official editions of the Big Book and other A.A. resources are available at aa.org (opens in a new tab).