When The Natural History of Alcoholism was first published in 1983, it was acclaimed in the
press as the single most important contribution to the literature on alcoholism since the first
edition of Alcoholic Anonymous's Big Book. George Vaillant took on the crucial questions of
whether alcoholism is a symptom or a disease, whether it is progressive, whether alcoholics
differ from others before the onset of their alcoholism, and whether alcoholics can safely
drink. Based on an evaluation of more than 600 individuals followed for over forty years�…