• All Creatures Great and Small

  • The Warm and Joyful Memoirs of the World's Most Beloved Animal Doctor
  • By: James Herriot
  • Narrated by: Nicholas Ralph
  • Length: 15 hrs and 23 mins
  • 4.9 out of 5 stars (936 ratings)

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All Creatures Great and Small

By: James Herriot
Narrated by: Nicholas Ralph
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Publisher's summary

**This program is read by Nicholas Ralph, star of the PBS Masterpiece series**

"Nicholas Ralph's narration is grand. His Yorkshire dialect is as genuine as the pudding, as authentic as it is possible to be while remaining comprehensible." (AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award Winner) 

A tie-in to the PBS Masterpiece series and Christmas special.

The first volume in the multimillion copy best-selling series.  

Delve into the magical, unforgettable world of James Herriot, the world's most beloved veterinarian, and his menagerie of heartwarming, funny, and tragic animal patients.

For 50 years, generations of readers have flocked to Herriot's marvelous tales, deep love of life, and extraordinary storytelling abilities. For decades, Herriot roamed the remote, beautiful Yorkshire Dales, treating every patient that came his way from smallest to largest, and observing animals and humans alike with his keen, loving eye.

In All Creatures Great and Small, we meet the young Herriot as he takes up his calling and discovers that the realities of veterinary practice in rural Yorkshire are very different from the sterile setting of veterinary school.

James Herriot's memoirs have sold 80 million copies worldwide, and continue to delight and entertain listeners and readers of all ages.  

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press

All Creatures Great and Small is available on Blu-ray and DVD. To purchase, visit shop.pbs.org. MASTERPIECE® is a registered trademark of the WGBH Educational Foundation. Used with permission. A Playground production for MASTERPIECE and Channel 5 in association with All3Media and Screen Yorkshire. Cover photo © Playground Television UK Ltd / Photographer: Ed Miller

©1972 James Herriot (P)2020 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“One of the funniest and most likeable books around.” (Atlantic Monthly)

“If there is any justice, All Creatures Great And Small will become a classic of its kind.... With seemingly effortless art, this man tells his stories with perfect timing and optimum scale. Many more famous authors could work for a lifetime and not achieve more flawless literary control.” (Chicago Tribune Book World

“Herriot charms because he delights in life, embraces it with sensitivity and gust and writes with grace. All Creatures Great And Small may well be the happiest book of the year.” (The New York Times Book Review)

What listeners say about All Creatures Great and Small

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Refreshing and Joyfilled

Nicholas Ralph, was a perfect narrator for this book. He made the beautiful language of this book visual. I didn’t want it to end.
Thank you for a truly positive listening book experience!

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15 people found this helpful

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Fabulous version

I loved these books as a child, watched the original series and now am loving the remake on PBS. Because I just love Nicholas Ralph as James in the new series, I bought this book to hear him as narrator. I was absolutely blown away. I have been an Audible member for over 10 years, listened to hundreds of books. The narrator often makes or breaks the book. A great story with a poor narrator is almost a waste of time. And a great narrator can save a mediocre story. Nicholas, who is a young man and actor has knocked it out of the park. The voices were superb, the dialects seem genuine and his impression of Siegfried is spot on! I will re-listen to this many many times. I have both books on Audible that Nicholas has recorded so far and am anxiously awaiting future releases. I will buy them all.

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This will not disappoint!

Both viewers of the recent tv series (starring narrator Nicholas Ralph) and longtime fans of the book will be fascinated by and endeared to the characters in the Dales as Ralph breathes life into them.

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Perfection!

Nicholas Ralph excellently embodies James Herriot in the new PBS television production and his audio performance is every bit as good. A thoroughly enjoyable listen!

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Phenomenal!

The books, of course, are simply wonderful, and have been around for years, delighting readers and animal lovers. Nicholas Ralph, however, brings the stories to stunning life with his uncanny ability to do rich and varied voices. You'd even swear that Samuel West was doing Siegfried's voice, Nicholas is that good!!!

I hope they are currently recording the next volume!

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Entertaining set of semi-connected short stories

I decided to read this book after watching the excellent BBC adaptation of the Herriot series starring Nicholas Ralph. That TV series is based on this book (and the subsequent ones), and so this book is a collection of short stories about the experiences of veterinarian James Herriot in early 20th century Yorkshire. It is important to understand that most of the chapters are self-contained short stories. Some are completely stand alone, while others do build on previous chapters, though they all help build and shape the characters. It’s also important to understand that the TV series is an adaptation and doesn’t necessarily always follow the book. The TV series did admirably capture the essence of the characters and the feel of the book. Overall this was a wonderful read, though I don’t think it was meant to be read cover to cover straight through. Rather, I think it was meant to be read as a series of stories. Nicholas Ralph was a superb reader and really breathed life into the characters and story.

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A Pure Delight! Perfect for Decompressing, Commute

This is a favorite series since I first read the books in the 70’s. This was my first time w audio; Nicholas Ralph’s voice captured the qualities of Herriot & the Yorkshire ambiance perfectly. I plan to use my nxt credit for Bk #2 narrated by Ralph. Loved this!

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Terrific

This classic book read by a gifted narrator. What more could a listener ask for?

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Great story great narrator

I’ve read lots of audiobooks, and this rates right up there was some of the best. Wonderful story and excellent narrator.

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Herriot - Animal Doctor

I have been watching the TV series, so I wanted to see how close the TV series was to the book. Quite different, but both caught the story basics. Enjoyable!

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