The Lord God Made Them All is a continuation of James Herriot's memoirs detailing his years as a veterinarian in the Yorkshire Dales - the fourth of five books in the memoir series. It picks up where All Things Wise and Wonderful left off, immediately after World War II, as Herriot's practice is expanding, medicine is making tremendous advances, and Herriot's two young children are an integral part of his life and also his practice.
What stands out most in this book is, in fact, the the advancements in antibiotics. Reading this, it really made me consider different perspectives regarding the use of antibiotics in animals. I have serious reservations about introducing antibiotics into the food supply. Herriot is not writing about or thinking about that larger issue, as he reflects on veterinary medicine circa 1950, though. He is thinking instead of the relief he was able to provide suffering animals, such as the previously untreatable wooden tongue in cattle that he became able to cure.
Interspersed with Herriot's vetting adventures in and around Darrowby, he describes two foreign trips - one to the USSR and one to Turkey - during which he accompanied animals for export at the height of the cod war. His descriptions of Klaipeda and Istanbul - and his (mis)adventures - are as highly readable and entertaining as everything else Herriot has written.
Four stars. And one more book to go.
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