In 1929, famous New York stockbroker Bill Wilson crashes with the stock market and becomes a hopeless drunk. Meanwhile, Dr. Bob Smith, a surgeon in Akron, has been an alcoholic for thirty years. Both men, isolated and alone, are on death’s door. Then, through an astonishing series of events, the two men are brought together and form a relationship, help keep each other sober, and begin passing their knowledge on to others.

The story goes beyond the lives of the two men and their wives and looks at how people come together to heal themselves and find direction and purpose that can help millions.