All Creatures Great and Small is a partially fictionalized memoir of Scottish veterinarian James Herriot (the pen name of James Alfred "Alf" Wight) practicing in the English countryside in the 1930s and 40s. The book follows Herriot as a young man fresh out of veterinary school as he begins his career working primarily with farm animals against the backdrop of the Great Depression. In each chapter, Herriot describes anecdotes from his life as a country vet as he assists in birthings, tends to sick animals, deals with stubborn farmers, and finds a home in the harsh landscape of England’s Yorkshire Dales.
Due to the time period in which Herriot started out in his career, poverty is a...
