As he awaits trail in Israeli for crimes against humanity, the fictional Howard W. Campbell (based loosely on William Joyce) narrates his story: an American in Germany on the onset of World War II, Campbell, a playwright and devoted husband, worked his way up through the Joseph Goebbels's propaganda machine, eventually becoming a Nazi propaganda broadcaster targeting Nazi-sympathizers in the United States. Secretly, he was also a U.S. spy, sending coded messages through his broadcasts--however, the damage he does with his fascist rhetoric threatens to do more damage than his espionage work. In the end, Campbell becomes a traitor in spite of himself. Told in Vonnegut's usual metafictional, and time-traversing style, MOTHER NIGHT proved to be a darker and more overtly political novel than his previous science-fiction work. It was later made into a feature film starring Nick Nolte.

A daring challenge to our moral sense, this is the story of American Howard W. Campbell, Jr, on trial as a Nazi war criminal.

A daring challenge to our moral sense, this is the story of American Howard W. Campbell, Jr, on trial as a Nazi war criminal.