If Only They Could Talk

James Herriot's first volume of veterinary adventures in Yorkshire.

Bulls with sunstroke, pigs on the run and a cake-eating Peke with a betting habit . . . I grew up reading James Herriot's book and I'm delighted that thirty years on they are still every bit as charming, heartwarming and laugh-out-loud funny as they were then.

It’s a pleasure to be in James Herriot’s company.

After an evening among his tales, anyone with as much as a dog or a budgerigar will feel he should move to Darrowby at once.

James Herriot grew up in Glasgow and qualified as a veterinary surgeon at Glasgow Veterinary College. Shortly afterwards, he took up a position as an assistant in a North Yorkshire practice where he remained, with the exception of his wartime service in the RAF, until his death in 1995. He wrote many books about Yorkshire country life, including some for children, but he is best known for his memoirs, beginning with If Only They Could Talk . The books were televised in the enormously popular series All Creatures Great and Small .