Pen name of James Alfred Wight (1916-1995)
English writer. A practising veterinary surgeon in Yorkshire from 1939, he wrote of his experiences in a series of humorous books which described the life of a young vet working in a Yorkshire village in the late 1930s. His first three books were published as a compilation under the title All Creatures Great and Small 1972.
Herriot began his career as a veterinary surgeon in the North Yorkshire village of Thirsk. Drawing upon the wealth of material, both human and animal, provided by his work in a very traditional rural community, he wrote his first book, If Only They Could Talk, when he was in his 50s. This was quickly followed by It Shouldn’t Happen To A Vet, and Let Sleeping Vets Lie. This compilation found great success in the US, and his international readership grew rapidly. In 1974 a film version of All Creatures Great and Small was made, and by the 1980s his books had been translated into every major language, including Japanese, and a long-running television series was being sold world-wide.
Other novels based on the same formula included All Things Bright and Beautiful 1974, All Things Wise and Wonderful 1977, and The Lord God Made Them All 1981. Their success was based on their warm humor, their colorful, larger-than-life characters, and an implicit nostalgia for the pre-war way of life in which there was a strong and enduring sense of community.
(1872-1957) French Radical socialist politician. An opponent of Poincaré, who as prime minister carried out the French occupation of the Ruhr, Germany, he was briefly prime minister 1924–25, 1926, and 1932. As president of the chamber of deputies 1940, he opposed the policies of the right-wing Vichy government and was arrested and later taken to Germany; he was released 1945 by the Soviets.