| Set in the serene beauty of the English countryside, ALL CREATURES GREAT
AND SMALL follows the true-life adventures of veterinarian James Herriot. The time is the
late 1930's, before the discovery of antibiotics, when animal medicine was as much magic
as science. Good care, good sense and an occasional flash of inspiration were often all
the doctor could offer against ingrained superstition. Of the days when he arrived in the Yorkshire Dales, Herriot wrote: "There were some people who thought I was a pretty fair vet, some who regarded me as an amiable idiot, a few who were convinced that I was a genius and one or two who would set their dogs on me if I put a foot inside their gates. All this in a year. What would be the position in thirty years? Well, as it turned out, very much the same." But with courage and humor, Herriot earned the trust of the local farmers, saved some animal patients, lost others and fell in love. It was all part of the joys and heartaches of caring for all creatures, great and small. |