All creatures great and small (Pan Macmillan)

The inspiration for the BBC series of the same name Fresh out of Glasgow Veterinary College, to the young James Herriot 1930s Yorkshire seems to offers an idyllic pocket of rural life in a rapidly changing world.

But from his erratic new colleagues, brothers Siegfried and Tristan Farnon, to incomprehensible farmers, herds of semi-feral cattle, a pig called Nugent and an overweight Pekingese called Tricki Woo, James find he is on a learning curve as steep as the hills around him.

And when he meets Helen, the beautiful daughter of a local farmer, all the training and experience in the world can't help him...Since they were first published, James Herriot's memoirs have sold millions of copies and entranced generations of animal lovers.

Charming, funny and touching, All Creatures Great and Small is a heart-warming story of determination, love and companionship from one of Britain's best-loved authors. 'I grew up reading James Herriot's books 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' Kate Humble