"Rip Van Winkle" is a short story by Washington Irving about a man who drinks some liquor then falls asleep for 20 years amidst the hills. Having missed the American Revolution, Rip Van Winke returns home but finds it completely changed. What he notices is really important, as they possess social and political messages that Irving wanted to stress. The independence from the British rule, the first steps into modernity, and the passing of time, all for better or worse, are among these messages that turn "Rip Van Winkle" in one of the finest short stories in American literature. Recommended to fans of the genre and American literature in general.