Series reading guide · guide verified September 8, 2026
All Creatures Great and Small Books in Order
Every All Creatures Great and Small book in publication order — 11 in total, spanning 1970–1992.
A young vet arrives in a Yorkshire Dales town in the late 1930s, meets a brilliant and impossible boss named Siegfried Farnon, his charming layabout brother Tristan, and a valley full of farmers who don't trust anyone under forty — and stays for the rest of his life. That's All Creatures Great and Small, James Herriot's gently comic, deeply humane memoir of country veterinary practice, and it has been making readers feel better about the world for more than fifty years. Below you'll find the series in order in both its editions — because the American and British books have different titles, and sorting that out is half the battle.
Publication Order of All Creatures Great and Small Books (US Editions)
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  All Creatures Great and Small | 1972 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 |  All Things Bright and Beautiful | 1974 | Amazon US UK |
| 3 |  All Things Wise and Wonderful | 1977 | Amazon US UK |
| 4 |  The Lord God Made Them All | 1981 | Amazon US UK |
| 5 |  Every Living Thing | 1992 | Amazon US UK |
Publication Order of the Original UK Editions
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  If Only They Could Talk | 1970 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 |  It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet | 1972 | Amazon US UK |
| 3 |  Let Sleeping Vets Lie | 1973 | Amazon US UK |
| 4 |  Vet in Harness | 1974 | Amazon US UK |
| 5 |  Vets Might Fly | 1976 | Amazon US UK |
| 6 |  Vet in a Spin | 1977 | Amazon US UK |
Every title by year All 11, 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 | Let Sleeping Vets Lie | 1973 | Amazon US UK |
| 5 | All Things Bright and Beautiful | 1974 | Amazon US UK |
| 6 | Vet in Harness | 1974 | Amazon US UK |
| 7 | Vets Might Fly | 1976 | Amazon US UK |
| 8 | All Things Wise and Wonderful | 1977 | Amazon US UK |
| 9 | Vet in a Spin | 1977 | Amazon US UK |
| 10 | The Lord God Made Them All | 1981 | Amazon US UK |
| 11 | Every Living Thing | 1992 | Amazon US UK |
How to read All Creatures Great and Small in order
Two editions, one story
Herriot's British publisher issued his memoirs as short books, six of them between 1970 and 1977. His American publisher, St. Martin's, thought US readers would prefer something fatter, so it combined them two at a time and retitled each omnibus with a line from the hymn 'All Things Bright and Beautiful.' The result is the list you see above: the five US volumes, and the six early UK books that make up the first three of them. If you're in the US, read the five. If you're in the UK, read If Only They Could Talk through Vet in a Spin, then The Lord God Made Them All and Every Living Thing. Nothing is missing either way.
What to expect
Don't come looking for plot. These are books of episodes — a night call to a farm at the top of the dale, a pampered Pekingese named Tricki Woo, a stubborn old-timer who won't pay his bill, a calving that goes wrong and then, wonderfully, right. What holds them together is Herriot's voice: modest, observant, quick to laugh at himself, and endlessly fond of the people and animals he treated. The books grow as he does; by The Lord God Made Them All he's a husband and father watching the old ways of farming disappear, and Every Living Thing, written near the end of his life, is the warmest of them all.
The show and the books
The 2020 revival for Channel 5 and PBS Masterpiece follows the books' arc more closely than you might expect — James's arrival, Siegfried and Tristan, the courtship of Helen — while adding its own serialized storytelling. The BBC's 1978–1990 series took the episodic approach, adapting stories almost one to one. Viewers of either will recognize most of what they find in the first two books, and then discover a great deal more.
All Creatures Great and Small on screen
The books have been on screen almost continuously since the 1970s, which tells you something about how much people want to spend time in Darrowby.
- 1975All Creatures Great and SmallFilm — Simon Ward and Anthony Hopkins; a sequel, It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet, followed in 1976.
- 1978All Creatures Great and SmallBBC series — Christopher Timothy, Robert Hardy and Peter Davison; 1978–1990.
- 2020All Creatures Great and SmallTV revival — Channel 5 / PBS Masterpiece, with Nicholas Ralph and Samuel West; ongoing.
If you liked the show, read the books
Liked All Creatures Great and Small (PBS Masterpiece)? Start with the book of the same name — most of the first two seasons come straight from it.
Liked Call the Midwife (PBS / BBC)? Herriot is the same pleasure in a different uniform: real work, real people, and a community you'll miss when the book ends.
Frequently asked
What order should I read All Creatures Great and Small in?
US editions: All Creatures Great and Small (1972), All Things Bright and Beautiful (1974), All Things Wise and Wonderful (1977), The Lord God Made Them All (1981), Every Living Thing (1992). UK editions: If Only They Could Talk (1970), It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet (1972), Let Sleeping Vets Lie (1973), Vet in Harness (1974), Vets Might Fly (1976), Vet in a Spin (1977), then the same two final books.
How many All Creatures Great and Small books are there?
Five in the US editions, or eight in the original UK editions — the same stories, packaged differently. The first three US books each combine two of the shorter UK books.
Is All Creatures Great and Small based on a true story?
Yes. James Herriot was the pen name of Alf Wight, a real vet in Thirsk, North Yorkshire. Darrowby is his fictional version of the town, Siegfried Farnon is based on his partner Donald Sinclair, and most of the episodes are drawn from his own practice, with details changed.
Do I need to read the books to enjoy the TV show, or vice versa?
No — either stands alone. But readers of the books will recognize most of the show’s early episodes, and viewers who pick up the books will find many more stories than the series has had room for.
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