The author's painstaking research and attention to detail is obvious in the writing of this book. The author laid out the information in a manner that allowed the reader to form their own opinion.

I have a love affair with twelve step programs so I was reading this book with huge skepticism (which I guess makes me part of the cult?).

While the background on AA is fascinating, I did not find the author remotely objective (shouldn't he be?) but rather, states a bunch of things that may or may not be true.

Fact 1 - Wilson and Dr. Bob absolutely acknowledged the Oxford Group as the "beginning" of AA. IN fact, in the Big Book, Wilson actually mentions the Oxford Group. While the author claims that everything that came out of Wilson's mind (12 steps in particular) can be drawn directly from the Oxford group, my question is Who cares where it came from?

Also, my biggest beef with this book is the fact that Bufe accuses people who believe in twelve step programs HAVE to find god or a higher power and those who don't will not survive. I cannot disagree more with this statement. People are encouraged to connect to something other than themselves - in fact it is suggested that if you do not believe in God or a HP then use the group and the people in the group as something to connect to......I fail to see how this makes one religious. The program is about caring and sharing with other people, not about praying to God.

Finally, if Bufe is going to write this type of book, maybe he needs to tell his readers WHO he is? and what his own beliefs are - this would go a long way into making his readers better understand his own belief system.