The Last of the Untouchables

by Oscar Fraley, Paul Robsky

Paul Robsky, one of the original members of Elliot Ness's legendary crime-fighting team, describes the methods and strategies used by the Untouchables to crack Al Capone's multi-million-dollar crime ring

223 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 1987

About the author

Oscar Fraley was the co-author, with Eliot Ness, of the famous American memoir The Untouchables. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Fraley grew up across the Delaware River in Woodbury, New Jersey.

He worked for United Press International as a sports reporter from 1940–1965 but still managed to write during his free time. Over the course of his lifetime, Fraley penned 31 books, including Hoffa, The Real Story (Stein and Day, 1975). In 1956 he was introduced to Ness while working as a reporter for UPI. It was this encounter that served as the inspiration for The Untouchables. By 1957, Fraley had written most of the proofs for the manuscript of the book. Ness read these proofs shortly before his own death that same year.

The Untouchables went on to sell 1.5 million copies and served as the basis for the television series and movie of the same name.

Oscar Fraley died on Thursday, January 6, 1994 in Fort Lauderdale’s in Broward General Hospital. The cause was heart failure after surgery for a strangulated hernia.

Wikipedia

Reviews

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paul Robsky and Oscar Fraley's "The Last of the Untouchables" was re-released in the wake of the 'Prohibition mania' that greeted the 1987 De Palma movie starring Kevin Costner and Robert DeNiro. The original version came out in 1962.

Paul Robsky, who had been an aerial photographer in France during WW I and spent a hazardous year as a dry agent in the 'Moonshine Mountains' of South Carolina, was one of the first men to join Ness' elite squad of Prohibition enforcement officers. A lot of the wild exploits that he recounted to his co-author were probably exaggerated to ensure that the book would appeal to fans of the black and white "Untouchables" TV series starring Robert Stack. But once the reader acknowledges that concession to the publicity racket, "The Last of the Untouchables" can be enjoyed as an insider's look at a colorful and dangerous era. As the last member of Ness' squad to leave Chicago, Robsky witnessed every phase of the assault on Al Capone's bootlegging operation, and provides an interesting summary of the aftermath.

[Charles Lovelace, III]

Interesting follow up to The Untouchables. Some of the stories related in the book made it to the Desilu television production, as using a truck with a battering ram, and installing a phone tap. Brave men who helped defeat the Capone gang.

[Federico Kereki · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book -- and there are several inconsistencies between it, and the previous other books, mainly "THE UNTOUCHABLES", which describes the same period. The most obvious: the other book says no agents were ever bribed, while this book says there were three agents at fault.

[Ronald]

read some time in 1982