On this day‬ in 1934 the former investigative reporter for the New York Times, Selwyn Raab was born. Raab has written extensively about the American Mafia, as well as appearing on several TV programs and interviews. His book Justice in the Back Room actually formed the basis for the CBS show Kojak.

On this day in 1934, Selwyn Raab was born, a man who would go on to become one of the most respected and authoritative voices on the subject of organised crime in America. A longtime investigative reporter for the New York Times, Raab dedicated decades of his professional life to chronicling the inner workings of the American Mafia, bringing the shadowy world of La Cosa Nostra into sharp focus for millions of readers who might otherwise have only encountered it through Hollywood fiction.

Raab's journalism career placed him at the centre of some of the most significant crime stories of the twentieth century. His work brought him into close contact with the realities of mob power in New York City, where the Five Families — the Gambinos, Luccheses, Bonannos, Colombos, and Genoveses — held an iron grip over everything from the waterfront to the garment district. Rather than sensationalising their activities, Raab approached the subject with rigorous journalistic discipline, separating myth from documented fact and holding law enforcement and the justice system equally accountable.

His book "Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires" stands as perhaps the definitive popular history of the New York underworld, tracing the lineage of organised crime from the early days of figures such as Lucky Luciano and the formation of the modern Commission, through to the dramatic federal prosecutions of the 1980s that dismantled much of the mob's traditional power structure. The depth of research and the breadth of contacts Raab brought to that work gave it a credibility that few crime writers have managed to match.

Earlier in his career, Raab demonstrated a willingness to pursue justice as much as headlines. His earlier book, "Justice in the Back Room," exposed serious failings within the American legal system and was compelling enough in its storytelling and moral urgency that it served as the direct inspiration for the long-running CBS television drama Kojak, which debuted in 1973 and ran for five seasons. The show, starring Telly Savalas as the iconic New York detective, introduced millions of viewers to themes of institutional corruption and street-level crime that Raab had documented in real life.

Selwyn Raab's legacy rests firmly on his refusal to treat organised crime as either glamour or gossip, and his body of work remains essential reading for anyone seeking to understand how the Mafia shaped — and was ultimately reshaped by — twentieth-century America.