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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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A.A. Milne
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(Alan Alexander Milne, 1882–1956) Scottish author and playwright whose lasting fame has come from his children's books. The main characters in Winnie-the-Pooh (1926) and The House at Pooh Corner (1928) are Milne's son, Christopher Robin, and three animal dolls in his nursery – a bear, small pig and donkey. Milne's brilliance lay in giving these animals vividly distinct characters, revealed mainly in dialogue. Pooh is genial and absent-minded, Piglet chirpy and timid, Eeyore infinitely lugubrious.
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Later animals (Kanga and Roo, Tigger) were added to the real-life nursery partly for the sake of the stories. Almost equally successful were two collections of children's verse, When We Were Very Young (1924), in which the four-year old Christopher Robin made his first appearance. and Now We Are Six (1927). All four books were illustrated by E.H. *Shepard. Milne was also a playwright and in 1929 adapted The *Wind in the Willows for the stage.
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