James Herriot's dog stories.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

In the years after the publication of All Creatures Great and Small, James Herriot became the most beloved storyteller of our time. The warm and joyful memoirs of his life as a country vet in England's Yorkshire have endeared him to countless readers around the world. In addition to the succeeding volumes in that series-All Things Bright and Beautiful, All Things Wise and Wonderful, The Lord God Made Them All, and Every Living Thing-his writing has appeared in eight children's books and in the special illustrated volumes James Herriot's Yorkshire and The Best of James Herriot. James Herriot's Cat Stories, with more than a million copies in print, became his most popular hardcover ever. And, in this volume, the kindly animal doctor collects fifty of his tales about his very favorite animal-man's best friend. Herriot tells us that even at an early age "I was fascinated by dogs...I could never quite take dogs for granted. Why were they so devoted to the human race? Why should they delight in our company and welcome us home in transports of joy? Why should their greatest pleasure lie in being with us in our homes and wherever we were'...As a vet I could be with dogs all the time, attending to them, curing their illnesses, saving their lives." And although-as James Herriot was soon to find out-being a vet in the Yorkshire Dales meant caring for cows, sheep, and horses, with precious little time left over for "small animal" practice, somehow dogs continued to play a large pare in both his personal and his professional life. Here are the complete dog stories form the first four volumes of his memoirs: a handsome collection of tales (some available nowhere else in America) that will warm the hearts of dog lovers around the world. Featuring a special introduction by the author and his own accompanying notes to each story, and warmly illustrated by Victor Ambrus, this tribute from man to dog is a volume no Herriot fan will want to be without.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Those awaiting the further adventures of Twicki Woo, the pampered Pekingese, may be disappointed to find only a postscript. Those seeking an excuse to reread selections from the author's popular book quartet ( All Creatures Great and Small , etc.) chronicling his Yorkshire veterinary experiences will be gratified to discover this collection of tales solely about dogs. The repackaging of these stories (some never published in the United States) has not lessened their charm or obscured the author's delightful insight into human and canine character. An optional purchase for limited-budget libraries, but most others should buy to meet the expected demand. Kimberly Megginson, VA Medical Ctr. Lib., Bedford, Mass. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

This succinct, admiring biography views Harry Truman as a strong, decisive and much-underrated president. A British politician and author (Asquith, Jenkins stresses Truman's accomplishments in the world arena, where the failed haberdasher achieved an ``even more difficult'' feat than his wartime predecessor, FDR, by becoming ``the leader of the free world at peace.'' After briefly recalling Truman's youth and early political career, Jenkins shows that he assumed the presidency ill-prepared, with only the ``courage of desperation,'' yet managed to begin the era of Pax Americana. The author's fresh views on such Truman achievements as the Marshall Plan and NATO are informed by Jenkins's own vantage as a British leader in the postwar period. Photos not seen by PW. (June 4) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

School Library Journal Review

YA Readers of Herriot's four classics and viewers of the PBS series will recognize many of these stories, which will still bring a smile or a tear to the eyes of dog lovers. Each of the 50 stories is preceded by a pen-and-ink sketch. Following each story, there are one or two paragraphs of Herriot's philosophy, outlook on life, and reminiscences about the dogs he has known. In these accounts he illustrates the various reactions of the dogs to the vet who treats them, thus providing the psychological side of animal doctoring. Especially interesting and enlightening are the descriptions of treatments given in the '30s as compared to what research has put into the hands of today's vet. A good choice for dog lovers. Mary Wadsworth Sucher, Baltimore County Reading Services (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

A collection of 50 touching and memorable dog stories from the veterinarian and master storyteller of Yorkshire--Herriot. Readers of his earlier works will recognize most of these vignettes (gathered from All Creatures Great and Small, All Things Bright and Beautiful, et al.), which capture the charm and good nature of the rural English as well as engagingly chronicle (as did The Best of James Herriot, 1982) Herriot's 45+ years as a country animal doctor. Whether treating Mrs. Pumphrey's pampered (and frightfully over-weight) Pekingese, Tricki Woo, saving--without benefit of modern equipment or antibiotics--a dog's badly mangled leg, or ducking out of the Daffodil Ball with future-wife Helen in tow to assist in a difficult whelping (stopping along the way for a romantic first kiss), Herriot's reminiscences are, as ever, warm and cheery. All of the stories bear witness to his own good character and sensibility: he makes a desperate attempt to cure an abandoned stray of mange, and struggles to reverse the paralysis of a dachshund who is the companion of a bedridden, paralyzed man. And then there's Herriot's modesty and good humor. Once, in the cluttered kitchen of a simple cottage outside of town, he performs a near miracle on an Old English sheepdog with a badly dislocated elbow. ""This was the sort of setting in which I usually pulled my spectacular cures,"" says Herriot. ""The only spectators here, apart from Arnold [the dog's owner], were the two hens who had made their way back on to the dresser, and they didn't seem particularly impressed."" For dog lovers just making Herriot's acquaintance for the first time, an extra special treat. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.