Items related to The Sleeper Awakes

The Sleeper Awakes - Softcover

Wells, Herbert George

 
9781909735262: The Sleeper Awakes

Synopsis

Unlike his later, more optimistic works, H. G. Wells' earlier books display a deep mistrust of science and 'progress'. The Sleeper Awakes is arguably the starkest and most pessimistic of these dystopian novels. It tells the tale of Graham, a chronic insomniac who falls into a coma-like sleep, from which he emerges over two hundred years later, to discover that investments willed to him by two childless industrialists have borne such fruit that he - The Sleeper – is now the owner of half the world. A 'Council' rules despotically in The Sleeper's name, presiding over a futuristic society of surpassing ugliness, with the uneducated masses themselves deeply asleep – their minds clouded by incessant propaganda and with no right to either property or privacy. Appalled, Graham strives for change, and finds himself regarded as a Messiah by the impoverished masses. But can The Sleeper alone sustain the revolution? And is he willing to make the ultimate sacrifice?

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About the Author

Often called the father of science fiction, British author Herbert George (H. G.) Wells literary works are notable for being some of the first titles of the science fiction genre, and include such famed titles as The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Island of Doctor Moreau, and The Invisible Man. Despite being fixedly associated with science fiction, Wells wrote extensively in other genres and on many subjects, including history, society and politics, and was heavily influenced by Darwinism. His first book, Anticipations of the Reaction of Mechanical and Scientific Progress Upon Human Life and Thought, offered predictions about what technology and society would look like in the year 2000, many of which have proven accurate. Wells went on to pen over fifty novels, numerous non-fiction books, and dozens of short stories. His legacy has had an overwhelming influence on science fiction, popular culture, and even on technological and scientific innovation. Wells died in 1946 at the age of 79.

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