| "Must reading for anyone wanting to understand
the modern history of alcoholism treatment and recovery in America and
the processes that go into changing public opinion and public policies." |
This is a
remarkably lucid, scholarly and interesting book that chronicles the birth of
the federal alcoholism movement and the events that followed. Nancy Olson,
herself a witness and active participant in this movement, presents an objective
and a well-documented book, where her fairness and passion are clearly evident.
It is a must read for those interested in alcoholism during a critical juncture
in its history.
Ernest P. Noble, Ph.D, M.D., Director of the UCLA
Alcohol Center and
former Director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse
and Alcoholism
Photo from the book: Nancy Olson and
Senator Williams
|
This
book is a blockbuster. Olson has a fine sense for storytelling. The research is
breathtaking, as is her gift in weaving it all together and engaging the reader
with dramatic insider eyewitness accounts. Harold Hughes would be proud of what
she's done.
Sally and David R. Brown, authors of The
Biography of
Mrs. Marty Mann: The First Lady of Alcoholics
Anonymous
With a Lot of Help from Our Friends is the
engaging story of how a grassroots movement of recovering people and their
families and allies changed the way America views alcoholism and the alcoholic
and created a national network of local alcoholism prevention and treatment
programs. While passage of the Hughes Act has long been lauded as the ignition
point of the modern alcoholism treatment movement, little has been known about
the details of this achievement until now. This book is must reading for anyone
wanting to understand the modern history of alcoholism treatment and recovery in
America and the processes that go into changing public opinion and public
policies.
William L. White, author of Slaying the
Dragon: The History
of Addiction Treatment and Recovery in America
| "Those interested in the history of A.A. will
get their money's worth." |
Olson is a
superb historian in the classic mold. Those interested in the history of A.A.
will get their money's worth. They will see Mrs. Marty Mann in action, hear Bill
Wilson's historic congressional testimony. They will hear Senator Harold Hughes
tell of his descent into alcoholism and his redemption, and a host of other
real-life A.A. stories about people of all sorts and types, some famous and some
obscure, but all brought vividly alive and made unforgettable by the author's
story-telling skill. This true tale of Washington politics manages to come out
inspiring and uplifting instead of merely cynical and despairing.
Glenn F. Chesnut, Professor of History,
Indiana University, author of The
Higher Power of the Twelve-Step Program: For Believers & Non-Believers
Photo from the book: Nancy Olson and
Senator Harold Hughes
|
What
are you interested in? History? Politics? Civics? Personalities? Alcoholism? You
can find them all here. If we do not learn from the past, we will make mistakes
in the future. Ms. Olson's laborious collection of historical data has provided
us with valuable insights that can guide us in the future.
Rabbi Abraham Twerski, M.D., founder and
medical director of the Gateway Rehabilitation Center
in Pittsburgh, and author of the best-selling Addictive Thinking: Understanding
Self-Deception
Nancy Olson has written a clear account
of the political struggle to accept alcoholism as a disease and to provide
treatment to those affected and their families. It is the story of a historic
twelfth step on the entire country.
Joseph Zuska, M.D. founder of the Navy's first alcoholism treatment center
at
Long Beach, California, later made famous by Betty Ford, wife of President Ford
Copyright
::
::
