Author · guide verified September 8, 2026
James Herriot Books in Order
Every James Herriot book in publication order — 41 in total, spanning 1970–2009.
James Herriot is the pen name of a real Yorkshire vet — James Alfred Wight — who, in his fifties, finally wrote down the funny, tender, occasionally muddy stories of country practice he'd been telling for years. The result is some of the most comforting reading there is: lambing at three in the morning, stubborn farmers, a green young vet, and animals great and small in the hills of the Dales. If you want a book that feels like a cup of tea by a warm fire, you've found your author.
Publication Order of All Creatures Great and Small Books
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  If Only They Could Talk | 1970 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 |  All Creatures Great and Small | 1972 | Amazon US UK |
| 3 |  It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet | 1972 | Amazon US UK |
| 4 |  Let Sleeping Vets Lie | 1973 | Amazon US UK |
| 5 |  Vet in Harness | 1974 | Amazon US UK |
| 6 |  All Things Bright and Beautiful | 1974 | Amazon US UK |
| 7 |  Vets Might Fly | 1976 | Amazon US UK |
| 8 |  All Things Wise and Wonderful | 1976 | Amazon US UK |
| 9 |  The Lord God Made Them All | 1981 | Amazon US UK |
| 10 |  Vet in a Spin | 1984 | Amazon US UK |
Publication Order of Smudge Books
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Smudge, The Little Lost Lamb | 1991 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 |  Smudge's Day Out | 1991 | Amazon US UK |
Publication Order of Short Story Collections
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  The Best of James Herriot | 1983 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 |  Horse & Pony Stories | 1986 | Amazon US UK |
Publication Order of Picture Books
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Bonny's Big Day | 1972 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 |  Moses the Kitten | 1984 | Amazon US UK |
| 3 |  Only One Woof | 1985 | Amazon US UK |
| 4 |  The Christmas Day Kitten | 1986 | Amazon US UK |
| 5 |  Blossom Comes Home | 1988 | Amazon US UK |
| 6 |  The Market Square Dog | 1989 | Amazon US UK |
| 7 |  Oscar, Cat-About-Town | 1990 | Amazon US UK |
| 8 |  The Animals at Diamond Woods | 2009 | Amazon US UK |
Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Animal Stories, Tame & Wild | 1979 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 |  James Herriot's Yorkshire | 1979 | Amazon US UK |
| 3 |  All Creatures Great and Small Annual 1982 | 1981 | Amazon US UK |
| 4 |  James Herriot's Favorite Dog Stories | 1986 | Amazon US UK |
| 5 |  James Herriot's Dog Stories | 1986 | Amazon US UK |
| 6 |  Greatest Cat Stories | 1989 | Amazon US UK |
| 7 |  James Herriot Story Book | 1992 | Amazon US UK |
| 8 |  Every Living Thing | 1992 | Amazon US UK |
| 9 |  James Herriot's Treasury for Children | 1992 | Amazon US UK |
| 10 |  James Herriot's Cat Stories | 1994 | Amazon US UK |
| 11 |  Lord God Made Them All | 1994 | Amazon US UK |
| 12 |  Seven Yorkshire tales | 1995 | Amazon US UK |
| 13 |  James Herriot's Yorkshire Stories | 1995 | Amazon US UK |
| 14 |  James Herriot's Yorkshire Village | 1995 | Amazon US UK |
| 15 |  James Herriot's Animal Stories | 1997 | Amazon US UK |
| 16 |  Yorkshire Stories | 1998 | Amazon US UK |
| 17 |  James Herriot's Yorkshire Revisited | 1999 | Amazon US UK |
Publication Order of Anthologies
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Famous and Curious Animal Stories | 1989 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 |  Christmas Cats | 2005 | Amazon US UK |
Every title by year All 41, oldest to newest
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | If Only They Could Talk | 1970 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 | All Creatures Great and Small | 1972 | Amazon US UK |
| 3 | It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet | 1972 | Amazon US UK |
| 4 | Bonny's Big Day | 1972 | Amazon US UK |
| 5 | Let Sleeping Vets Lie | 1973 | Amazon US UK |
| 6 | Vet in Harness | 1974 | Amazon US UK |
| 7 | All Things Bright and Beautiful | 1974 | Amazon US UK |
| 8 | Vets Might Fly | 1976 | Amazon US UK |
| 9 | All Things Wise and Wonderful | 1976 | Amazon US UK |
| 10 | Animal Stories, Tame & Wild | 1979 | Amazon US UK |
| 11 | James Herriot's Yorkshire | 1979 | Amazon US UK |
| 12 | The Lord God Made Them All | 1981 | Amazon US UK |
| 13 | All Creatures Great and Small Annual 1982 | 1981 | Amazon US UK |
| 14 | The Best of James Herriot | 1983 | Amazon US UK |
| 15 | Vet in a Spin | 1984 | Amazon US UK |
| 16 | Moses the Kitten | 1984 | Amazon US UK |
| 17 | Only One Woof | 1985 | Amazon US UK |
| 18 | Horse & Pony Stories | 1986 | Amazon US UK |
| 19 | The Christmas Day Kitten | 1986 | Amazon US UK |
| 20 | James Herriot's Favorite Dog Stories | 1986 | Amazon US UK |
| 21 | James Herriot's Dog Stories | 1986 | Amazon US UK |
| 22 | Blossom Comes Home | 1988 | Amazon US UK |
| 23 | The Market Square Dog | 1989 | Amazon US UK |
| 24 | Greatest Cat Stories | 1989 | Amazon US UK |
| 25 | Famous and Curious Animal Stories | 1989 | Amazon US UK |
| 26 | Oscar, Cat-About-Town | 1990 | Amazon US UK |
| 27 | Smudge, The Little Lost Lamb | 1991 | Amazon US UK |
| 28 | Smudge's Day Out | 1991 | Amazon US UK |
| 29 | James Herriot Story Book | 1992 | Amazon US UK |
| 30 | Every Living Thing | 1992 | Amazon US UK |
| 31 | James Herriot's Treasury for Children | 1992 | Amazon US UK |
| 32 | James Herriot's Cat Stories | 1994 | Amazon US UK |
| 33 | Lord God Made Them All | 1994 | Amazon US UK |
| 34 | Seven Yorkshire tales | 1995 | Amazon US UK |
| 35 | James Herriot's Yorkshire Stories | 1995 | Amazon US UK |
| 36 | James Herriot's Yorkshire Village | 1995 | Amazon US UK |
| 37 | James Herriot's Animal Stories | 1997 | Amazon US UK |
| 38 | Yorkshire Stories | 1998 | Amazon US UK |
| 39 | James Herriot's Yorkshire Revisited | 1999 | Amazon US UK |
| 40 | Christmas Cats | 2005 | Amazon US UK |
| 41 | The Animals at Diamond Woods | 2009 | Amazon US UK |
A reader's guide to James Herriot
The vet behind the pen name
Alf Wight qualified as a veterinary surgeon in Glasgow in 1939 and, the following year, took a job at a small practice in Thirsk, a market town on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales. He stayed for the rest of his working life. For decades he told his stories to anyone who'd listen, and for decades his wife Joan suggested he write them down; he finally did, in the evenings in front of the television, and his first book appeared in 1970 when he was fifty-three. Because British vets weren't supposed to advertise, he needed a pen name, and he borrowed one from a Scottish goalkeeper he saw on a match broadcast: Jim Herriot. Thirsk became Darrowby, his partner Donald Sinclair became Siegfried Farnon, and the rest is one of the best-loved bodies of memoir in the language.
US titles vs UK titles — the thing that confuses everyone
In Britain the stories came out as short books — If Only They Could Talk, It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet, Let Sleeping Vets Lie, Vet in Harness, Vets Might Fly, Vet in a Spin. His American publisher combined them two at a time and retitled the omnibuses after lines from the hymn 'All Things Bright and Beautiful': All Creatures Great and Small, All Things Bright and Beautiful, All Things Wise and Wonderful. From The Lord God Made Them All (1981) onward the editions match, and Every Living Thing (1992) closes the series. So whether you read five books or eight, you're reading the same stories in the same order. Our All Creatures Great and Small page lays the two editions side by side.
Beyond the memoirs
Herriot's shelf is bigger than the five famous books. The picture books — Moses the Kitten, Only One Woof, The Christmas Day Kitten, Blossom Comes Home and the rest — retell single episodes from the memoirs for young readers and make lovely read-alouds. James Herriot's Dog Stories and Cat Stories collect his best animal tales by species. And James Herriot's Yorkshire and its companions pair his prose with photographs of the landscape that made him. None are required; all are pleasant company.
James Herriot on screen
Herriot has been adapted twice, both beloved: the classic BBC series (1978–1990) with Christopher Timothy and Robert Hardy, and the warm, gorgeous revival on Channel 5 and PBS Masterpiece (from 2020) with Nicholas Ralph and Samuel West. Both send viewers straight back to the books, which hold even more of the small moments.
- 1975All Creatures Great and SmallFilm — Simon Ward as James, Anthony Hopkins as Siegfried; followed by It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet (1976).
- 1978All Creatures Great and SmallBBC series — The classic long-running adaptation, 1978–1990.
- 2020All Creatures Great and SmallTV revival — Channel 5 / PBS Masterpiece; ongoing and much-loved.
If you liked the show, read the books
Liked All Creatures Great and Small (PBS Masterpiece)? Start with the book of the same name — the show is faithful to its heart, and the books hold even more.
Frequently asked
What order should I read the James Herriot books in?
Start with All Creatures Great and Small, then All Things Bright and Beautiful, All Things Wise and Wonderful, The Lord God Made Them All, and Every Living Thing. (The US omnibus editions combine his original, shorter British books — see the All Creatures Great and Small page for both lists.)
Are the James Herriot stories true?
Largely, yes — they are drawn from Alf Wight’s real years as a Yorkshire vet, with names (his own included) and some dates changed and events rearranged for the telling. Think memoir with a storyteller’s polish.
Why did James Herriot use a pen name?
Professional rules at the time discouraged British vets from advertising, so publishing under his own name could have been seen as self-promotion. He borrowed the surname from a Scottish goalkeeper, Jim Herriot.
How many James Herriot books are there?
Five memoirs in the US editions (eight in the original UK editions), plus about a dozen children’s picture books, several story collections such as James Herriot’s Dog Stories and Cat Stories, and a few illustrated Yorkshire books — around 40 titles in all.
Is Darrowby a real place?
No — it is a fictional stand-in for Thirsk, the North Yorkshire market town where Wight practiced, with a few features borrowed from nearby towns. The old surgery at 23 Kirkgate in Thirsk is now the World of James Herriot museum.
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