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James Herriot Books In Order: The Complete Guide
There’s a particular kind of comfort that only a James Herriot book delivers: a young vet bumping down a Yorkshire lane in a car with dodgy brakes, a farmer who’s certain he knows better, a difficult calving at two in the morning, and a cup of tea at the end of it all. “James Herriot” was the pen name of James Alfred Wight, a real veterinary surgeon who practiced in the market town of Thirsk for the better part of fifty years and didn’t publish his first book until he was fifty-three. He turned decades of country practice into stories that are funny, tender and quietly wise — and they have never gone out of print.
If you’ve come to Herriot from the All Creatures Great and Small television series (either the original BBC run or the recent PBS Masterpiece revival) and want to know where the books begin, or if you read them years ago and want to revisit them properly, this guide lays out every James Herriot book in order — the memoirs, the children’s picture books, the story collections and the Yorkshire books — with a clear explanation of the one thing that trips up almost every new reader: why the British and American editions have different titles.
All Creatures Great and Small Series in Order
This is the heart of Herriot’s work: the semi-autobiographical memoirs of a young vet arriving in the fictional Dales town of Darrowby in the late 1930s to join the practice of the brilliant, mercurial Siegfried Farnon and his charming, work-shy brother Tristan. Over the course of the series Herriot courts and marries Helen, weathers the Second World War, raises a family and watches country practice change around him — but the books are really made of small moments: an old man and the dog he can’t bear to lose, a pig with a personality, a farmer’s grudging “you did all right, young man.” They are gentle without ever being soft, and they hold up beautifully to rereading.
Here’s the part that confuses everyone. In Britain, Herriot’s stories were published as a run of short books beginning with If Only They Could Talk in 1970. When they came to America, his US publisher combined them two at a time into fatter omnibus volumes and gave them new titles taken from the hymn “All Things Bright and Beautiful.” So All Creatures Great and Small (1972) contains If Only They Could Talk and It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet; All Things Bright and Beautiful (1974) contains Let Sleeping Vets Lie and Vet in Harness; and All Things Wise and Wonderful (1977) contains Vets Might Fly and Vet in a Spin. From The Lord God Made Them All (1981) onward the editions are the same on both sides of the Atlantic, and Every Living Thing (1992) is the fifth and final volume.
The simplest way to read the series: if you’re in the US, read the five omnibus books in order — All Creatures Great and Small, All Things Bright and Beautiful, All Things Wise and Wonderful, The Lord God Made Them All and Every Living Thing. If you’re in the UK, read the original eight. Either way you get the same stories in the same order. The full list, with both editions, is below — and you can see them laid out side by side on our All Creatures Great and Small books in order page.
- If Only They Could Talk (1970, UK) – Amazon US | Amazon UK
- All Creatures Great and Small (1972, US omnibus of books 1–2) – Amazon US | Amazon UK
- It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet (1972, UK) – Amazon US | Amazon UK
- Let Sleeping Vets Lie (1973, UK) – Amazon US | Amazon UK
- Vet in Harness (1974, UK) – Amazon US | Amazon UK
- All Things Bright and Beautiful (1974, US omnibus of books 3–4) – Amazon US | Amazon UK
- Vets Might Fly (1976, UK) – Amazon US | Amazon UK
- Vet in a Spin (1977, UK) – Amazon US | Amazon UK
- All Things Wise and Wonderful (1977, US omnibus of books 5–6) – Amazon US | Amazon UK
- The Lord God Made Them All (1981) – Amazon US | Amazon UK
- Every Living Thing (1992) – Amazon US | Amazon UK
If you only read one: start with All Creatures Great and Small. It’s the book that made him, it’s the one the television series takes its name from, and if you love it you have four more waiting.
Children’s Books by James Herriot
Herriot also wrote a delightful selection of children’s picture books, most of them lifted from episodes in the memoirs and retold for young readers — a lost lamb, a kitten adopted by a sow, a Christmas cat. They make lovely read-alouds.
- Bonny’s Big Day (1972)
- Moses the Kitten (1984)
- Only One Woof (1985)
- The Christmas Day Kitten (1986)
- Blossom Comes Home (1988)
- The Market Square Dog (1989)
- Oscar, Cat-About-Town (1990)
- Smudge, the Little Lost Lamb (1991) and Smudge’s Day Out (1991)
James Herriot’s Short Story Collections
For those who want bite-sized Herriot, these collections gather the best animal stories from across the memoirs, grouped by species:
- The Best of James Herriot (1983)
- Horse & Pony Stories (1986)
- James Herriot’s Dog Stories (1986)
- James Herriot’s Cat Stories (1994)
Non-Fiction and Photography Books
In addition to his memoirs, Herriot wrote about his beloved Yorkshire and its people — handsome photographic books that make a fine companion to the stories:
- James Herriot’s Yorkshire (1979)
- James Herriot’s Yorkshire Village (1995)
- James Herriot’s Yorkshire Revisited (1999)
The Books on Screen
Herriot has been adapted twice, and both versions are beloved. The BBC’s All Creatures Great and Small ran from 1978 to 1990 with Christopher Timothy as James and Robert Hardy as Siegfried, and for a generation of viewers it is Herriot. The 2020 revival for Channel 5 and PBS Masterpiece, with Nicholas Ralph and Samuel West, is warmer and more romantic in tone and has brought a whole new audience to the books. Either one will send you happily back to the page — and the page, as always, holds more.
Final Thoughts
James Herriot’s books remain a must-read for animal lovers, aspiring vets, and anyone who likes their memoirs warm, funny and beautifully written. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or picking up where you left off, his stories continue to inspire and delight readers worldwide.
Want the full list? See every James Herriot book in order — updated for 2026, with links to grab each title — or go straight to the All Creatures Great and Small series in order.