English author Alan Alexander Milne (18 January 1882 - 31 January 1956) is best known for his children's poems and books about the stuffed animal Winnie-the-Pooh. Prior to Winnie-the-Pooh's enormous success overshadowing all of his earlier work, Milne was essentially a playwright. Milne participated in both World Wars, serving as a captain in the Home Guard during the Second World War and as a lieutenant in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment during the First World War. The character Christopher Robin is based on Christopher Robin Milne, a bookseller, who was Milne's son. The inspiration for Milne to compose Winnie-the-Pooh for his son came from a trip to the London Zoo, when Christopher fell in love with the kind and friendly bear Winnipeg. The Winnie-the-Pooh stories' original manuscripts were left by Milne to Trinity College, Cambridge's Wren Library.
