DS,
Two books I'd recommend are Under the Influence by James Milam and Drinking, A Love Story by Caroline Knapp. The first gives a ton of information about the disease of alcoholism, and the second is an autobiographical story of one womans journey to sobriety (and a great read).
Re "I know this stems from underlying issues..." - that's pretty common. I used to think that I was the only person on the planet that felt that way - my life seemed to be a series of pavlovian reflexes to the events that occurred to/around me. It was like being a marionette, but never knowing when the strings would get pulled. My advice would be to focus on stop drinking for the near term, and deal with the underlying stuff once you are secure in your soriety.
I wish you well,
Edd