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James Herriot's Yorkshire Revisited
James Herriot lived and worked in North Yorkshire, England, for over fifty years, first and foremost as a vet, but in his later years as one of the world's most successful authors. Twenty years ago, the bestselling book, James Herriot's Yorkshire combined hundreds of color photos with a moving essay highlighting the places he loved so much - from the lush valley meadows in the springtime to the remote villages during the depths of winter. Now, two decades later, the Herriot estate has authorized the creation of a new book on Yorkshire that matches the original in both charm and grace. Complete with an introduction by James Herriot's son, Jim Wight, James Herriot's Yorkshire Revisited brings together never-before-seen photos with evocative excerpts from Herriot's eight major works.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 1999
7 people are currently reading
339 people want to read
About the author
James Herriot
268 books3,373 followersJames Herriot is the pen name of James Alfred Wight, OBE, FRCVS also known as Alf Wight, an English veterinary surgeon and writer. Wight is best known for his semi-autobiographical stories, often referred to collectively as All Creatures Great and Small, a title used in some editions and in film and television adaptations.
In 1939, at the age of 23, he qualified as a veterinary surgeon with Glasgow Veterinary College. In January 1940, he took a brief job at a veterinary practice in Sunderland, but moved in July to work in a rural practice based in the town of Thirsk, Yorkshire, close to the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors, where he was to remain for the rest of his life. The original practice is now a museum, "The World of James Herriot".
Wight intended for years to write a book, but with most of his time consumed by veterinary practice and family, his writing ambition went nowhere. Challenged by his wife, in 1966 (at the age of 50), he began writing. In 1969 Wight wrote If Only They Could Talk, the first of the now-famous series based on his life working as a vet and his training in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. Owing in part to professional etiquette which at that time frowned on veterinary surgeons and other professionals from advertising their services, he took a pen name, choosing "James Herriot". If Only They Could Talk was published in the United Kingdom in 1970 by Michael Joseph Ltd, but sales were slow until Thomas McCormack, of St. Martin's Press in New York City, received a copy and arranged to have the first two books published as a single volume in the United States. The resulting book, titled All Creatures Great and Small, was an overnight success, spawning numerous sequels, movies, and a successful television adaptation.
In his books, Wight calls the town where he lives and works Darrowby, which he based largely on the towns of Thirsk and Sowerby. He also renamed Donald Sinclair and his brother Brian Sinclair as Siegfried and Tristan Farnon, respectively. Wight's books are only partially autobiographical. Many of the stories are only loosely based on real events or people, and thus can be considered primarily fiction.
The Herriot books are often described as "animal stories" (Wight himself was known to refer to them as his "little cat-and-dog stories"), and given that they are about the life of a country veterinarian, animals certainly play a significant role in most of the stories. Yet animals play a lesser, sometimes even a negligible role in many of Wight's tales: the overall theme of his stories is Yorkshire country life, with its people and their animals primary elements that provide its distinct character. Further, it is Wight's shrewd observations of persons, animals, and their close inter-relationship, which give his writing much of its savour. Wight was just as interested in their owners as he was in his patients, and his writing is, at root, an amiable but keen comment on the human condition. The Yorkshire animals provide the element of pain and drama; the role of their owners is to feel and express joy, sadness, sometimes triumph. The animal characters also prevent Wight's stories from becoming twee or melodramatic — animals, unlike some humans, do not pretend to be ailing, nor have they imaginary complaints and needless fears. Their ill-health is real, not the result of flaws in their character which they avoid mending. In an age of social uncertainties, when there seem to be no remedies for anything, Wight's stories of resolute grappling with mysterious bacterial foes or severe injuries have an almost heroic quality, giving the reader a sense of assurance, even hope. Best of all, James Herriot has an abundant humour about himself and his difficulties. He never feels superior to any living thing, and is ever eager to learn — about animal doctoring, and about his fellow human creature.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/jamesh...
In 1939, at the age of 23, he qualified as a veterinary surgeon with Glasgow Veterinary College. In January 1940, he took a brief job at a veterinary practice in Sunderland, but moved in July to work in a rural practice based in the town of Thirsk, Yorkshire, close to the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors, where he was to remain for the rest of his life. The original practice is now a museum, "The World of James Herriot".
Wight intended for years to write a book, but with most of his time consumed by veterinary practice and family, his writing ambition went nowhere. Challenged by his wife, in 1966 (at the age of 50), he began writing. In 1969 Wight wrote If Only They Could Talk, the first of the now-famous series based on his life working as a vet and his training in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. Owing in part to professional etiquette which at that time frowned on veterinary surgeons and other professionals from advertising their services, he took a pen name, choosing "James Herriot". If Only They Could Talk was published in the United Kingdom in 1970 by Michael Joseph Ltd, but sales were slow until Thomas McCormack, of St. Martin's Press in New York City, received a copy and arranged to have the first two books published as a single volume in the United States. The resulting book, titled All Creatures Great and Small, was an overnight success, spawning numerous sequels, movies, and a successful television adaptation.
In his books, Wight calls the town where he lives and works Darrowby, which he based largely on the towns of Thirsk and Sowerby. He also renamed Donald Sinclair and his brother Brian Sinclair as Siegfried and Tristan Farnon, respectively. Wight's books are only partially autobiographical. Many of the stories are only loosely based on real events or people, and thus can be considered primarily fiction.
The Herriot books are often described as "animal stories" (Wight himself was known to refer to them as his "little cat-and-dog stories"), and given that they are about the life of a country veterinarian, animals certainly play a significant role in most of the stories. Yet animals play a lesser, sometimes even a negligible role in many of Wight's tales: the overall theme of his stories is Yorkshire country life, with its people and their animals primary elements that provide its distinct character. Further, it is Wight's shrewd observations of persons, animals, and their close inter-relationship, which give his writing much of its savour. Wight was just as interested in their owners as he was in his patients, and his writing is, at root, an amiable but keen comment on the human condition. The Yorkshire animals provide the element of pain and drama; the role of their owners is to feel and express joy, sadness, sometimes triumph. The animal characters also prevent Wight's stories from becoming twee or melodramatic — animals, unlike some humans, do not pretend to be ailing, nor have they imaginary complaints and needless fears. Their ill-health is real, not the result of flaws in their character which they avoid mending. In an age of social uncertainties, when there seem to be no remedies for anything, Wight's stories of resolute grappling with mysterious bacterial foes or severe injuries have an almost heroic quality, giving the reader a sense of assurance, even hope. Best of all, James Herriot has an abundant humour about himself and his difficulties. He never feels superior to any living thing, and is ever eager to learn — about animal doctoring, and about his fellow human creature.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/jamesh...
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
January 8, 2024
What a beautiful book! “James Herriot’s” son Jim Wight selected passages from his father’s books and pairs them with gorgeous pictures of the Yorkshire countryside Herriot described. As a lover of Herriot’s books and Yorkshire, this was a wonderful read - I expect it to sit on my coffee table and read it over and over.
February 17, 2020
This book is a nice introduction to the works of roving country vet James Herriot. But it is just that -- excerpts. Any context to which these pieces belong is lost through this format, and the narrative is missing. There's no story, just words. But he's an excellent writer, and these pieces inspire pining for the hills and moors of Yorkshire and northern England.
More of a hard 3-star than a proper 4-star, if you ask me.
For a full dissection of this book, see my vlog about it:
https://youtu.be/v5ysE2H85qE
More of a hard 3-star than a proper 4-star, if you ask me.
For a full dissection of this book, see my vlog about it:
https://youtu.be/v5ysE2H85qE
June 30, 2018
Beautiful photographs, with stories to match, some sweet, others harrowing. A fine reference done by Herriot's heir.
January 5, 2019
Beautiful photos of a beautiful place. I hope to go one day.
June 17, 2019
Pretty pictures. It helps one who has never been to Yorkshire visualize Herriot's adventures.
October 30, 2022
This is a lovely book with gorgeous photographs of the places where James Herriot (Alfred Wight) worked as a vet. I loved the excerpts from Herriot's books which accompany each photo. I read all the Herriot books about thirty years ago and still have happy memories of them. Last week my husband and I were able to visit the Herriot home/surgery/museum and the charming little town of Thirsk. It's just as picturesque (actually even more so) than I expected it to be.
April 12, 2023
Beautiful photographs accompanied by passages that I often recognized from other books. Now I want to travel to Yorkshire to witness the Dales in person! A magnificent and glorious poem to a special part of Great Britain.
June 14, 2025
A pleasant evocation of the Herriotbooks. Great photos by Derry Brabbs. If you have read the vet books you will enjoy this background to the county. Not a proper index so not sure where all the photos are. A map or maps would be useful.
January 19, 2024
Beautiful pictures of all the places James Herriot writes about in his stories. Lots of history.
October 13, 2024
Beautiful book. I guess I‘ve got to put a visit to Yorkshire on my bucket list. 😁
December 22, 2019
Much as I love the beauty and descriptions in the Herriot books, I did find this a bit...boring - perhaps mostly because I’ve just finished the series so rereading snippets didn’t hold my attention. Perhaps if there had been original captions I’d have been captivated for longer.
November 22, 2022
"This was the real Yorkshire with the clean limestone wall riding the hill's edge and the path cutting brilliant green through the crowding heather. And walking face on to the scented breeze, I felt the old tingle of wonder at being alone on the wide moorland where nothing stirred and the spreading miles of purple blossom and green turf reached away till it met the hazy blue of the sky...Anybody who has ever walked a dog knows the abiding satisfaction which comes from giving pleasure to a loved animal, and the sight of the little form trotting ahead of me lent a depth which had been missing before." Page 60, 61
January 21, 2014
Decent enough I suppose. Having never been to England, let alone the Moors/Yorkshire area, does it still retain that look/feel that is oh-so evident in Herriot's writing and pictures? I know, I know, the book is what? Tens of years old at least but still, I can't help but, as an American, stand in amazement at the stone walls and it's presence as the building material of choice for streets and any and all structures.
I good book to flip through, though I admit I may have done it a disservice by flipping through it more for the pictures and captions than for any narrative value it may possess.
I good book to flip through, though I admit I may have done it a disservice by flipping through it more for the pictures and captions than for any narrative value it may possess.
August 30, 2011
This book is a beautiful book which takes you from the lush valley meadows in the springtime to the remote villages during the depths of winter.combined hundreds of color photos with a moving essay highlighting the places James Herriot loved so much, once you have read this book and seen all the beautiful places its easy to think of this place where James Herriot once lived in all his other books.This book I will Keep!
Read
July 29, 2011the text is wonderful. at times i wished the pictures more exactly matched the text, but the pictures are very enjoyable and that would have probably been too long a project to undertake. gathering together so many of herriot's descriptive passages was a great idea. he is so good at helping the reader to 'see' what he is seeing.
February 14, 2009
Love this book! But then again I love all the Herriot books I have read so far. This was especially fun because the book contains lots of color photographs of places in Yorkshire and gives visual images that will be useful when I reread his books.
February 24, 2019
In this book there are hundreds of color photographs to compliment the accounts of his 8 major books. The start of this book is a multi-day hike with his son and a friend of his son's through the Yorkshire Dales. So, a new James Herriot read for me full of his wry humor!
July 15, 2013
A great compliment to a Herriot fan's collection. This book has some nice pictures of the Yorkshire countryside along with excerpts from Herriot's books about the areas in each picture. Fun to look through and put a picture to the places he wrote about so lovingly .
January 14, 2008
Of course I loved it! I'm from Yorkshire (now living in Canada) and it made me homesick! Also gorgeous photography; inspiring to paint.
September 17, 2008
It is lovely to SEE the places Mr. Harriot wrote about in his veterinary series.
January 22, 2009
Beautiful pictures of Yorkshire accompanied by related quotes from James Herriot's books. Lovely. Nice coffee table book.
September 1, 2010
I haven't read this edition, but the original James Herriot's Yorkshire is a wonderful addition to the series. Beautiful photos and lovely commentary. Just lovely. Makes me want to go there!
April 3, 2013
Makes me want to visit and hike there
August 15, 2016
it was a great read
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews