Alan Alexander Milne was born in London. Youngest son of schoolmaster John Vine Milne, he attended Westminster School and later Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was graduated in 1903 with honors in mathematics. Upon completion of his studies, he immediately began his long career in writing, contributing light essays to several magazines. His first novel, Lovers in London (1905), was published when Milne was twenty-three. In 1906 he joined the staff of Punch as an assistant editor, contributing a weekly essay. His work as a dramatist began a decade later, during his service in World War I. His first play, Wurzel-Flummery, appeared in 1917, and his one unqualified success in the theater, Mr. Pim Passes By, was completed and produced in 1919. By the time of his death in 1956, more than two dozen plays by Milne had been produced in London or New York. However, there is no question that Milne's most lasting...