
The Sleeper Awakes
by H. G. Wells
'The Sleeper Awakes' Summary
Graham, an Englishman living in London in 1897, takes drugs to cure insomnia and falls into a coma. He wakes up in 2100. He later learns that he has inherited huge wealth and that his money has been put into a trust. Over the years, the trustees, the "White Council", have used his wealth to establish a vast political and economic world order.
When Graham wakes, he is disoriented. The people around him had not expected him to wake up, and are alarmed. Word spreads that the "Sleeper" has awakened. A mob gathers around the building and demands to see the fabled Sleeper. The people around Graham will not answer his questions. They place Graham under house arrest. Graham learns that he is the legal owner and master of most of the world.
Rebels led by Ostrog help Graham to escape. They say that the people need Graham's leadership to rise against the White Council. Unconvinced, but unwilling to remain a prisoner, Graham goes with them. Graham arrives at a massive hall where the workers have gathered to prepare for the revolution. They march against the White Council but are soon attacked by the state police. In the confusion, Graham is separated from the revolutionaries. He meets an old man who tells him the story of the Sleeper - the White Council invested his wealth to buy the industries and political entities of half the world, establishing a plutocracy and sweeping away parliament and the monarchy. The Sleeper is just a figurehead. The old man thinks that the Sleeper is a made-up figure used to brainwash the population.
Graham meets Ostrog, who says that the rebels have won and that the people are demanding that the Sleeper should rule. Ostrog retains power while Graham becomes his puppet ruler. Graham gets interested in aeroplanes and learns how to fly. He sees from the air that no-one lives in the country or small towns any more, all agriculture being run like industry; and that there are now only four huge cities in Britain, all powered by huge wind-mills. His carefree life ends when Helen Wotton tells him that, for the lower class, the revolution has changed nothing. Graham questions Ostrog who admits that the lower classes are still dominated and exploited, but he defends the system. It emerges that Ostrog only wanted to take power for himself and has used the revolution and Graham to do so.
Ostrog admits that in other cities the workers have continued to rebel even after the fall of the White Council. Ostrog has used a black African police force to get the workers back in line. Graham is furious and demands that Ostrog keep his police out of London. Ostrog agrees. Graham decides to examine this new society for himself.
Graham visits London in disguise to see how the workers live. Their lives are ghastly. Unskilled workers toil in factories, paid in food for each day's work, with no job security. They speak a dialect so strong that Graham cannot understand them. Industrial diseases are rife. Workers wear uniforms of different colour according to their trade. The family unit no longer exists and children are cared for in huge institutions. Lives are dominated by "babble machines" which spread news and "pleasure cities" where unspecified joys are available. "Euthanasy" is considered normal.
Graham learns that Ostrog has ordered his troops to London. Graham confronts Ostrog, who tries to arrest Graham. The workers rise up again and help Graham to escape. He meets Helen and learns that it was she who told the public about Ostrog's treachery. Graham leads the liberation of London.
Ostrog escapes and joins his troops who are flying to London. His men still hold a few airports. The workers find anti-aircraft guns, but they need time to set them up. The revolutionaries have only one aircraft; Graham gives away all of his wealth to the rebels and proceeds to fly the one aircraft against the invaders, bringing some of them down. The revolutionaries get the anti-aircraft guns working and start to shoot down the invaders. Graham attacks Ostrog's aeroplane but fails. Graham's aeroplane crashes.
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
EnglishPublished In
1899Authors

H. G. Wells
England
He was most prominent as a forward-looking, even prophetic social critic who devoted his literary talents to the development of a progressive vision on a global scale. A futurist, he wrote a number of...
Books by H. G. WellsDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books

Hartmann the Anarchist, or the Doom of a Great City by Edward Douglas Fawcett
Edward Douglas Fawcett's *Hartmann the Anarchist* is a thrilling science fiction novel set in a near-future London. It follows the story of Stanley, a...

Vital Question, or, What is to be Done? by Nikolai Chernyshevsky
'What Is To Be Done?' is a novel by Nikolai Chernyshevsky, written during his imprisonment in the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg. The novel...

Geheimnis der alten Mamsell by Eugenie Marlitt
In 'Geheimnis der alten Mamsell,' a young orphan named Felicitas, known as 'Fee,' is taken in by the wealthy Hellwig family, but faces prejudice and m...

Roots of the Mountains by William Morris
Set in a fictional pre-medieval Germanic world, "Roots of the Mountains" follows the inhabitants of Burgdale, a valley where peace has reigned for gen...

Ellendigen - Deel 2 - Cosette by Victor Hugo
De Ellendigen, een vertaling van Les Misérables, is een sociaal-realistische roman die de ellende van de armen in de 19e-eeuwse Franse samenleving bel...

Recording Angel by Edwin Arnold Brenholtz
Edwin Arnold Brenholtz's "The Recording Angel" is a novel set in a future society where the gap between the wealthy and the working class is stark. Th...

Looking Backward: 2000-1887 by Edward Bellamy
The book tells the story of Julian West, a young American who, towards the end of the 19th century, falls into a deep, hypnosis-induced sleep and wake...

King Coal by Upton Sinclair
King Coal is a 1917 novel by Upton Sinclair that describes the poor working conditions in the coal mining industry in the western United States during...

The Day of Resis by Lillian Frances Mentor
Amidst the shadows of a world ruled by oppression, a flicker of defiance emerges in "The Day of Resis" by Lillian Frances Mentor. In a future dominate...

呐喊 (Call to Arms) by Xun Lu
"Call to Arms" is a collection of fourteen short stories written by Lu Xun, one of the most influential figures in modern Chinese literature. The stor...
Reviews for The Sleeper Awakes
No reviews posted or approved, yet...