8 h 35 minAudiobook2 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 211 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 211 pagesAbout 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
For readers who love strange future cities, political struggles, and science fiction that questions whether new technology actually makes life better.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
Who’s who
- GrahamThe long-sleeping man wakes to vast wealth and must learn what responsibility comes with it.
- OstrogA powerful rebel leader challenges the Council and seeks to shape the new order.
- The CouncilThe rulers administer Graham's fortune and exercise power in his name while he sleeps.
- The future cityLondon's immense structures and transport systems display technical achievement alongside deep social inequality.
- Ownership and powerGraham's legal wealth means little unless he can control the people and institutions that act for him.
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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The Sleeper Awakes
by H. G. Wells · 1910
Graham wakes as the richest man in a transformed London, but others rule in his name.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
Graham is worn down by sleeplessness when he falls into a deep sleep that no one can break. He remains unconscious for about two centuries. During that time, money left to him grows into an immense fortune. The people who administer his wealth gain control over much of the world, ruling in the name of a man who cannot speak or act.
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What is The Sleeper Awakes about?
A man named Graham sleeps for roughly two centuries and wakes in a technologically advanced society built around his accumulated fortune. His awakening unsettles its rulers and inspires its workers, drawing him into a struggle over whether wealth and progress should serve the many or the few.
Why is Graham so rich when he wakes up?
Money left to Graham grows during his extraordinarily long sleep. Over generations, the administration of that fortune becomes a vast structure of economic and political control. He wakes as its owner, but the Council that manages it has become accustomed to ruling without him.
Is The Sleeper Awakes the same as When the Sleeper Wakes?
The Sleeper Awakes is Wells's revised version of When the Sleeper Wakes, which first appeared in 1899. The revised novel appeared in 1910. Both centre on Graham's long sleep and awakening into a future society dominated by the wealth accumulated in his name.
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.
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