(CNN) -- It was described by evangelical pastor Jerry Falwell as "obscene trash."





High schools and public libraries banned it, while teenagers -- male and female -- hid it under their beds like a dirty magazine.





Women across the country passed it to their friends, their sisters, their neighbors. They read chapters about rape in closets with flashlights. They gaped in dorm rooms at the photos of childbirth.





The landmark women's health handbook was filled with sometimes graphic information about the most intimate aspects of women's lives. It was revolutionary in its candid discussions -- and depictions -- of the specifics of sex, birth control, childbirth, lesbianism and other formerly taboo topics.





In 1971, the first "Our Bodies, Ourselves" book sold 250,000 copies. Today, it is available in 25 languages and has sold more than 4 million copies.





It's hard to believe it all began in Boston with just 12 women.





They met during a women's liberation conference in 1969. At the time, fewer than 10% of doctors were women, and topics like sexuality, pregnancy and abortion were rarely discussed. But a long conversation after a workshop on women and their bodies prompted this small group to launch the beginning of the women's health care movement.





"Many of them had had very bad experiences around their health and medical care, around their encounters with physicians," "Our Bodies, Ourselves" executive director Judy Norsigian remembered. "You lived in an era then where, if you went to a physician, and you were a married woman, and you (were diagnosed with) gonorrhea, your physician would tell your husband and not you."





The next year, their work came to fruition: a 193-page booklet printed on newsprint titled "Women and Their Bodies" that sold for just 75 cents.





"Part of why (the booklet) got off the ground is because women wanted to change this kind of environment in which what women had to say, where what women reported about their own experiences, could be so readily discarded," Norsigian said.





In August, Time magazine named "Our Bodies, Ourselves" one of the best nonfiction books since 1923. This year, the organization behind the book, the Boston Women's Health Book Collective, celebrates its 40th anniversary with a new edition.





Norsigian was the youngest member of the 1971 editing team and still plays a big part in editing the text. Norsigian spoke with CNN about the controversial book, the strides in women's health care since then and the one thing she hopes readers take away. The following is an edited version of that interview:





CNN: Describe yourself in the early 1970s. What were you doing, and what were you wearing?





Norsigian: In the early '70s, I was just out of college. The year after I graduated ... I lived on a farm as part of a small commune and learned a tremendous amount about organic gardening. This is before it came in vogue.





I met through mutual friends the women who had produced the newsprint edition of "Our Bodies, Ourselves." I was acutely aware of the lack of good information out there for women of all ages, so I was very excited about being a part of this effort.





You can't ask me what I wore, because I can't remember. ... I probably had a bell bottom or two in those days.





CNN: What were some of the most controversial issues covered in the first book?





Norsigian: Well, there's no question about that. I would say there were three things that drew fire from various sources. One is the lesbian chapter; it was called then "In Amerika they call us dykes." That was obviously going to be very controversial because there was huge resistance to the idea of homosexuality. When people tried to ban the book in schools, they often pointed to this chapter as "filthy trash."





The second, of course, is the abortion chapter (which was still illegal at the time) ... and the third -- can you
How many copies were sold? when was the first book published? What was another book Time magazine named as best? What was a taboo topic? Who authored the book "Our Bodies, Ourselves"? how many doctors were women? what did Time Magazine name the book? What topics were taboo? What book won the award?
more than 4 million 1971, "Our Bodies, Ourselves" sex, birth control, childbirth, lesbianism the Boston Women's Health fewer than 10% "Our Bodies, Ourselves" sex, birth control, childbirth, lesbianism "Our Bodies, Ourselves"
question: How many copies were sold?, answer: more than 4 million | question: when was the first book published?, answer: 1971, | question: What was another book Time magazine named as best?, answer: "Our Bodies, Ourselves" | question: What was a taboo topic?, answer: sex, birth control, childbirth, lesbianism | question: Who authored the book "Our Bodies, Ourselves"?, answer: the Boston Women's Health | question: how many doctors were women?, answer: fewer than 10% | question: what did Time Magazine name the book?, answer: "Our Bodies, Ourselves" | question: What topics were taboo?, answer: sex, birth control, childbirth, lesbianism | question: What book won the award?, answer: "Our Bodies, Ourselves"