When the Sleeper Awakes

About “When the Sleeper Awakes”

A troubled insomniac in 1890s England falls into a sleep-like trance and remains unconscious for over two hundred years. During this time, investments made in his name make him the richest and most powerful man on Earth. When he awakens, he is horrified to learn that his wealth is used to support a strict social hierarchy where most people are poor, and more than a third are enslaved. The oppressed and uneducated masses hold onto a single hope: that the sleeper will awaken and lead them to freedom. This is the premise of a 1899 novel by H. G. Wells.