What do you think?
Rate this book
Three Plays: The Dover Road; The Truth About Blayds; The Great Broxopp
This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
- GenresPlays
296 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
53 people want to read
About the author
A.A. Milne
1,841 books3,682 followersAlan Alexander Milne (pronounced /ˈmɪln/) was an English author, best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh and for various children's poems.
A. A. Milne was born in Kilburn, London, to parents Vince Milne and Sarah Marie Milne (née Heginbotham) and grew up at Henley House School, 6/7 Mortimer Road (now Crescent), Kilburn, a small public school run by his father. One of his teachers was H. G. Wells who taught there in 1889–90. Milne attended Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied on a mathematics scholarship. While there, he edited and wrote for Granta, a student magazine. He collaborated with his brother Kenneth and their articles appeared over the initials AKM. Milne's work came to the attention of the leading British humour magazine Punch, where Milne was to become a contributor and later an assistant editor.
Milne joined the British Army in World War I and served as an officer in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and later, after a debilitating illness, the Royal Corps of Signals. He was discharged on February 14, 1919.
After the war, he wrote a denunciation of war titled Peace with Honour (1934), which he retracted somewhat with 1940's War with Honour. During World War II, Milne was one of the most prominent critics of English writer P. G. Wodehouse, who was captured at his country home in France by the Nazis and imprisoned for a year. Wodehouse made radio broadcasts about his internment, which were broadcast from Berlin. Although the light-hearted broadcasts made fun of the Germans, Milne accused Wodehouse of committing an act of near treason by cooperating with his country's enemy. Wodehouse got some revenge on his former friend by creating fatuous parodies of the Christopher Robin poems in some of his later stories, and claiming that Milne "was probably jealous of all other writers.... But I loved his stuff."
He married Dorothy "Daphne" de Sélincourt in 1913, and their only son, Christopher Robin Milne, was born in 1920. In 1925, A. A. Milne bought a country home, Cotchford Farm, in Hartfield, East Sussex. During World War II, A. A. Milne was Captain of the Home Guard in Hartfield & Forest Row, insisting on being plain 'Mr. Milne' to the members of his platoon. He retired to the farm after a stroke and brain surgery in 1952 left him an invalid and by August 1953 "he seemed very old and disenchanted".
He was 74 years old when he passed away in 1956.
A. A. Milne was born in Kilburn, London, to parents Vince Milne and Sarah Marie Milne (née Heginbotham) and grew up at Henley House School, 6/7 Mortimer Road (now Crescent), Kilburn, a small public school run by his father. One of his teachers was H. G. Wells who taught there in 1889–90. Milne attended Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied on a mathematics scholarship. While there, he edited and wrote for Granta, a student magazine. He collaborated with his brother Kenneth and their articles appeared over the initials AKM. Milne's work came to the attention of the leading British humour magazine Punch, where Milne was to become a contributor and later an assistant editor.
Milne joined the British Army in World War I and served as an officer in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and later, after a debilitating illness, the Royal Corps of Signals. He was discharged on February 14, 1919.
After the war, he wrote a denunciation of war titled Peace with Honour (1934), which he retracted somewhat with 1940's War with Honour. During World War II, Milne was one of the most prominent critics of English writer P. G. Wodehouse, who was captured at his country home in France by the Nazis and imprisoned for a year. Wodehouse made radio broadcasts about his internment, which were broadcast from Berlin. Although the light-hearted broadcasts made fun of the Germans, Milne accused Wodehouse of committing an act of near treason by cooperating with his country's enemy. Wodehouse got some revenge on his former friend by creating fatuous parodies of the Christopher Robin poems in some of his later stories, and claiming that Milne "was probably jealous of all other writers.... But I loved his stuff."
He married Dorothy "Daphne" de Sélincourt in 1913, and their only son, Christopher Robin Milne, was born in 1920. In 1925, A. A. Milne bought a country home, Cotchford Farm, in Hartfield, East Sussex. During World War II, A. A. Milne was Captain of the Home Guard in Hartfield & Forest Row, insisting on being plain 'Mr. Milne' to the members of his platoon. He retired to the farm after a stroke and brain surgery in 1952 left him an invalid and by August 1953 "he seemed very old and disenchanted".
He was 74 years old when he passed away in 1956.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 3, 2025
Dover Road was silly, but fun. I'm surprised that The Truth About Blayds isn't better known, this is the one I'd really like to see performed.
August 19, 2020
This is my most recent bathtime book.
The Great Broxopp:
very fun! Four acts long, it was very funny and a pleasure to read. I'm not sure how well I would like it staged, though, as there's not much of a climax; it just goes on in its silly way and then stops. A perfect bathtime play.
3/5 stars.
The Dover Road:
OMG
Very funny, I really enjoyed it.
5/5 stars
The Truth about Blayds
This is a comedy in the traditional sense, but man was it painful in spots. Beautiful and sometimes funny too, but wow. I wasn't expecting this play to be about a man wasting a life that wasn't his to waste.
The romance is wonderful. It was perfect. Everything it should have been.
5/5
Re-read of Truth About Blayds, 2020: I still love this play, but I didn't like the ending as much the second time around.
The Great Broxopp:
very fun! Four acts long, it was very funny and a pleasure to read. I'm not sure how well I would like it staged, though, as there's not much of a climax; it just goes on in its silly way and then stops. A perfect bathtime play.
3/5 stars.
The Dover Road:
OMG
Very funny, I really enjoyed it.
5/5 stars
The Truth about Blayds
This is a comedy in the traditional sense, but man was it painful in spots. Beautiful and sometimes funny too, but wow. I wasn't expecting this play to be about a man wasting a life that wasn't his to waste.
The romance is wonderful. It was perfect. Everything it should have been.
5/5
Re-read of Truth About Blayds, 2020: I still love this play, but I didn't like the ending as much the second time around.
Read
August 19, 2020So we were reading The Truth About Blayds for drama group, and I really liked it— RIGHT UP UNTIL THE END.
WHAT WAS THAT.
Would totally do that play though.
WHAT WAS THAT.
Would totally do that play though.
September 28, 2025
Only read "The Dover Road". It was silly, good fun!
November 30, 2022
REVIEW FOR THE DOVER ROAD (haven't read the others yet ... TBD)
When you read a biography on P.G. Wodehouse, and he name drops a play he enjoyed by A.A. Milne, even though Milne did him dirty after World War II with some critical remarks about Plum’s actions while a prisoner to the Nazis, that says a lot about Wodehouse’s integrity for appreciating good literature regardless of personal feelings or slights to the contrary. Also, that means that I have no choice but to find the play and read it!
It may not be a shock, but it turns out that one of my literary heroes has good taste!
The Dover Road has a couple “accidentally” stranded at a hotel that turns out to be someone’s personal home. Other revelations in the first few pages are that this couple is not married to each—though one of them is married—and that they are headed out of the country. The homeowner, Mr. Latimer (“remital” or “remittal” in reverse … I assume this is no accident either), has taken it upon himself to ensure that couples looking to skip out on their marriage are forced to pause before making a rash decision that they may regret shortly thereafter.
Things complicate further when the couple in forced retreat find out that another couple experiencing the same involuntary stay include the wife of the aspiring unfaithful husband! Some obvious but entertaining plot developments and character interactions ensue.
By the time we get to the 3rd Act, Milne has gone through all the obvious paths his premise brings up, which led me to wonder how he was going to milk a whole act out of this ending. He does it by veering off completely off track and following the unexpected route. While that keeps the play from being formulaic, it also makes it feel gimmicky—as in, the biggest purpose it serves is to defy expectations, even if it comes at the cost of a higher message, completed character arcs, or realism.
Sure, that means that his play is not as profound or meaningful, but it was entertaining in the moment, even if it will be forgettable in a short amount of time. Thanks, Wodehouse! What’s next?
When you read a biography on P.G. Wodehouse, and he name drops a play he enjoyed by A.A. Milne, even though Milne did him dirty after World War II with some critical remarks about Plum’s actions while a prisoner to the Nazis, that says a lot about Wodehouse’s integrity for appreciating good literature regardless of personal feelings or slights to the contrary. Also, that means that I have no choice but to find the play and read it!
It may not be a shock, but it turns out that one of my literary heroes has good taste!
The Dover Road has a couple “accidentally” stranded at a hotel that turns out to be someone’s personal home. Other revelations in the first few pages are that this couple is not married to each—though one of them is married—and that they are headed out of the country. The homeowner, Mr. Latimer (“remital” or “remittal” in reverse … I assume this is no accident either), has taken it upon himself to ensure that couples looking to skip out on their marriage are forced to pause before making a rash decision that they may regret shortly thereafter.
Things complicate further when the couple in forced retreat find out that another couple experiencing the same involuntary stay include the wife of the aspiring unfaithful husband! Some obvious but entertaining plot developments and character interactions ensue.
By the time we get to the 3rd Act, Milne has gone through all the obvious paths his premise brings up, which led me to wonder how he was going to milk a whole act out of this ending. He does it by veering off completely off track and following the unexpected route. While that keeps the play from being formulaic, it also makes it feel gimmicky—as in, the biggest purpose it serves is to defy expectations, even if it comes at the cost of a higher message, completed character arcs, or realism.
Sure, that means that his play is not as profound or meaningful, but it was entertaining in the moment, even if it will be forgettable in a short amount of time. Thanks, Wodehouse! What’s next?
August 7, 2023
My online play-reading-group just read THE TRUTH ABOUT BLAYDS, taking our time and doing a single act over three weeks, and I must say, Wow! What a remarkable play! I'd love to see it produced.
I don't want to talk about the subject matter of the play (spoilers, indeed!) but it's a very thoughtful work, with a markedly different tenor in each of the acts. I recommend it.
I don't want to talk about the subject matter of the play (spoilers, indeed!) but it's a very thoughtful work, with a markedly different tenor in each of the acts. I recommend it.
August 29, 2012
Read "The Dover Road" after seeing a good review of it elsewhere. Some cleverness to it, of course, since it's A.A. Milne, but not really all that great. A gentleman...probably middle-aged...lives near a road frequently traveled by eloping couples. He takes it upon himself to always ensure that they have an "accident" out on the road and must stay the night at his house. Then he endeavors to show them what it would be like to live every-day life with their betrothed (the trials of the common cold and the irritations of the breakfast table, for instance), so that they can either back out before it's too late, or else be sure that it's a good idea. A funny plot idea on the surface, but the people dealt with in this story are already married and each is hoping for a divorce and trying to run off with somebody else. No real affection anywhere. But then this wasn't billed as a romance, just a comedy, so the fact that there's not really a long-term resolution isn't supposed to matter.
January 12, 2017
I had seen a movie (made in 1934 I think) of The Dover Road and was surprised to see 2 of the characters kissing in the last scene since I hadn't seen that coming, I read the play to see if the movie had changed the ending, which it had. Milne included a forward to the play stating that the printed version was as he had written it and the "so-called happy ending" was added by the director in the stage version. The play also included some exposition that wasn't in the movie and which helped to understand the character of Anne and the ending that Milne had chosen. Milne describes The Dover Road as an absurd comedy, which it is, but I enjoyed it.
I thought The Truth About Blayds, which concerns the family of a celebrated poet finding out that he was a sham after he dies and their efforts to cope with this knowledge, to be interesting. I didn't like The Great Broxopp quite as much as the other plays. The plays are definitely light reading, but very enjoyable.
I thought The Truth About Blayds, which concerns the family of a celebrated poet finding out that he was a sham after he dies and their efforts to cope with this knowledge, to be interesting. I didn't like The Great Broxopp quite as much as the other plays. The plays are definitely light reading, but very enjoyable.
August 14, 2016
These aren't outstanding plays, but they are all highly readable and engaging. I'd class it as trivial light-reading, an enjoyable volume for whiling away a spare evening. This selection of plays is probably less humorous than First Plays or Second Plays, but it is consistently satisfying, without the dissatisfying conclusions that are to be found in First Plays.
March 30, 2012
Charming types of English country house lives and drama.
November 20, 2014
Not as good as Milnes other plays, but still worth reading.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews