8 h 35 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 8 h 35 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if you woke as the richest person alive—and found a whole world ruled in your name?
In H. G. Wells's The Sleeper Awakes, Graham falls into a sleep no one can break. Two centuries later, he opens his eyes to a London almost beyond recognition. Vast buildings enclose the city, moving roads carry crowds, and flying machines cross the sky. His fortune has grown into a source of immense power.
But wealth does not mean freedom. The Council watches Graham closely while ruling in his name. Outside, the Sleeper has become a public symbol, and a rebellion led by the forceful Ostrog offers escape. As Graham discovers the labour beneath the city's comforts, he must confront what his wealth means for people with little control over their lives.
What you’ll discover
- A city beyond recognition Explore a London where immense structures and moving roads make the familiar feel strange.
- Wealth without control Follow Graham as he learns how little ownership means when others wield its power.
- A forceful rebel leader Meet Ostrog, whose challenge to the Council offers Graham a path into political struggle.
- The cost of comfort Look beneath the spectacle to the workers whose labour sustains the city's impressive machinery.
- Progress under question Consider whether technical achievement brings freedom when power remains concentrated in so few hands.
Who will love it
This book suits readers who love early science fiction, imagined cities, and big questions about money, power and the poor. It rewards anyone who enjoys a hero thrown into a strange world.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A sleepless man falls into a trance
- Graham wakes in a world that knows him
- A crowd outside and a Council within
- Three days in the silent rooms
- A rescue across the roofs of London
- Darkness, bullets and an old man's history
- Ostrog and a world held in trust
- Helen speaks and Ostrog reveals his creed
- The break with Ostrog and the call to fly
- Wealth, labour and who really rules
- Belief, courage and a king who must choose
- How Wells tells the story
Who’s who
- GrahamA sleepless Victorian who falls into a trance and wakes two centuries later as the unwitting owner of the world, unsure what to do with it.
- IsbisterA young artist in Boscastle who finds the sleepless stranger on the cliff path and later becomes a prosperous man of business.
- WarmingGraham's cousin and guardian, a London solicitor who manages his property and doubts that he will ever wake.
- HowardGraham's chief guardian in the new age, who keeps him secluded and avoids all his questions about the Council.
- OstrogThe white-haired Boss who organizes the revolt against the Council and wants to rule the world in Graham's name.
- LincolnOstrog's half-brother, who greets Graham after the escape and serves as his guide and guard.
- AsanoA polite Japanese attendant who shows Graham the city, the crow's nest, and the life of the common people.
- Helen WottonA serious young woman and niece of Ostrog who begs Graham to remember the oppressed people who risked their lives for him.
Formats and delivery
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- Large print hardcover
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The Sleeper Awakes
by H. G. Wells · 1910
A sleepless man in Cornwall wakes 203 years later as owner of the world, and a whole city shouts for him.
Medium level5–10 hours to readfrançais
Excellent
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In short
A man cannot sleep. For six nights he has walked the Cornish cliffs near Boscastle, and now he sits in tears beneath a rock, talking of throwing himself into the sea.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A sleepless man falls into a trance
On a hot afternoon in Cornwall, a young artist named Isbister finds a stranger under a rock near the cove of Pentargen.
At Isbister's lodging the stranger sinks into an armchair and goes completely still. A doctor is fetched, but the man is stiff as a board and cannot be roused. His name is Graham, and he is carried to London and laid in a glass case.
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Also in the H. G. Wells Book Set: Five Novels
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- 15-minute summary
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Details
- First published
- 1910
- Language
- français
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Wells, H. G. The Sleeper Awakes. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-sleeper-awakes.
Wells, H. G. (2026). The sleeper awakes. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-sleeper-awakes (Original work published 1910)
Wells, H. G. The Sleeper Awakes. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-sleeper-awakes.
@book{wells2026sleeper,
author = {Wells, H. G.},
title = {The Sleeper Awakes},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-sleeper-awakes},
note = {First published 1910}
}
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What is The Sleeper Awakes about?
A sleepless Victorian named Graham falls into a trance, wakes 203 years later, and finds he owns the world through his fortune. He is drawn into a revolt against a ruling Council and a struggle with the leader Ostrog.
Who is Ostrog in The Sleeper Awakes?
Ostrog is the white-haired Boss who leads the popular revolt against the Council and wins Graham's rescue. He believes the common people should be ruled, and the book builds toward his clash with Graham over power and the poor.
Was The Sleeper Awakes first called When the Sleeper Wakes?
Yes, H. G. Wells first published it in 1899 as When the Sleeper Wakes, after it appeared in magazines. The later title is The Sleeper Awakes, and both names refer to the same novel about Graham and his two-century trance.
The author
H. G. Wells
1866–1946 · English science fiction novelist
H. G. Wells (1866–1946) was an English writer born in Bromley, Kent. He wrote novels, short stories and nonfiction. His novels included The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897) and The War of the Worlds (1898). He died in London.
More by H. G. Wells
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