8 h 35 minAudiobook12 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 enjoy early science fiction, vivid future cities, daring flights and political struggles, and who like to see how a great storyteller pictured a world shaped by money, machines and crowds.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A sleepless man meets a kind stranger
- Twenty years pass beside a glass case
- He wakes to crowds and a locked door
- Three days in the silent rooms
- A rescue across the roofs of London
- The march, the darkness and the old man
- Ostrog, the Boss, and a brief reign
- Helen Wotton shows him what the world has become
- What the book is really about
- How Wells tells it
Who’s who
- GrahamAn overworked man of the 1890s who sleeps for two centuries and wakes as owner of the world, longing to understand it and to use his power well.
- IsbisterA young artist at Boscastle who finds the sleepless stranger, looks after him, and later returns as a prosperous businessman to see him in his glass case.
- WarmingGraham's cousin, a London solicitor who manages his property for twenty years and believes the sleeper will never wake.
- HowardGraham's heavy-browed chief guardian, loyal to the Council, who keeps him secluded and avoids every straight answer.
- OstrogThe white-haired Boss who leads the revolt in Graham's name and believes strong rulers must govern the masses.
- Helen WottonOstrog's earnest niece, who tells Graham how the poor suffer and begs him to rule for their sake.
- LincolnOstrog's half-brother, a quick-talking agent who guides Graham through the early days of the revolt and serves his chief.
- AsanoGraham's polite Japanese attendant, who guides him through the city and tries to keep him calm.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 8 h 35 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 12 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in, 211 pages: 9,95 USD when you start free, 15,95 USD on its own.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in, 211 pages: 16,95 USD when you start free, 22,95 USD on its own.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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The Sleeper Awakes
by H. G. Wells · 1910
A sleepless man falls into a trance on the Cornish coast and wakes two centuries later as owner of the whole world.
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In short
The Sleeper Awakes is a novel by H. G.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A sleepless man meets a kind stranger
The story opens at Boscastle on the Cornish coast. A young artist named Isbister walks toward the cove of Pentargen and finds a man sitting beneath the rocks, red-eyed and in tears. The stranger says he has not slept for six nights. He worked himself into this state with drugs and strong coffee while finishing some task, and now his mind spins like a whirlpool.
The man speaks of ending his life by throwing himself from the cliff, since only there can he find rest. Isbister, bored and eager to be useful, answers with dry humour. He says suicide by cliff is so amateurish. He takes charge, talks about harbours and sketches, and brings the man home to his lodging.
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What is The Sleeper Awakes about?
A man in the 1890s falls into a trance and wakes over two hundred years later. His savings have grown into a fortune that makes him ruler of the world, and he is drawn into a revolution in a vast future London.
Who is Ostrog in The Sleeper Awakes?
Ostrog is the Boss who leads the people's revolt against the White Council in the Sleeper's name. He believes in strong rulers and sees the common people as a crowd to be steered, which sets him against Graham.
What are the Labour Department and the blue canvas?
The Labour Department is a huge company that grew from the old workhouse. It gives food and shelter to the poor in return for work. Its workers wear blue canvas, and most cannot escape it.
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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