Robert Ernst Conot (June 25, 1929 – November 16, 2011
) was an American journalist and historian. He is the author of a 1967 book on the
Watts Riots
The Watts riots, sometimes referred to as the Watts Rebellion or Watts Uprising, took place in the Watts neighborhood and its surrounding areas of Los Angeles from August 11 to 16, 1965. The riots were motivated by anger at the racist and abus ...
(''Rivers of Blood, Years of Darkness''). The report caught the attention of the
National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ce ...
, which appointed him to edit the historical section of the commission's report. Conot is also known for a biography of
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison (February11, 1847October18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, ...
that was among the first works to take issue with the "Edison myth" (''A Streak of Luck''). He also wrote a comprehensive volume on the
Nuremberg Trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials
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, ''Justice at Nuremberg''.
It was after his work on the Kerner Commission that Conot wrote A''merican Odyssey: A Unique History of America Told Through the Life of a Great City'' (1974), a history of Detroit from its 1701 beginning until 1970, detailing the social and community struggles – problems and successes – of America's biggest boom town, until the begin of its fall.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conot, Robert E.
2011 deaths
1929 births