Library shelves creak under the weight of Collins biographies, yet still the Big Fella's publishing industry is going strong. Here is a comprehensive list of the 28 books (and counting) published since the 1920s

AN EXCESS OF LOVE Cathy Cash Spellman (Dell 1986)

DARK SECRET OF BEAL NA MBLATH Fr. Patrick Twohig (Tower 1991)
The outspoken priest from Mallow's book on the shooting of Collins. He names the killer as not that of Sonny O'Neill but a different ambusher from a passing ambush party.

GREEN TEARS FOR HECUBA:Ireland's Fight for Freedom Patrick J Twohig (Tower 1994)

HIGH HEROIC Constantine Fitzgibbon (unknown)

IN GREAT HASTE Leon O'Broin (Gill and Macmillan 1983, 1996)

IRELAND'S CIVIL WAR Calton Younger (F. Muller 1968)

MICHAEL COLLINS, A BIOGRAPHY Tim Pat Coogan (Roberts Rinehart 1991)
The most authoritative, comprehensive and well-written of the collection. This is prescripted reading to any Collins enthusiast.

MICHAEL COLLINS AND THE MAKING OF THE IRISH STATE Ed: G. Doherty, D. Keogh (Mercier Press 1998)
Written by a flotilla of celebrated historians, this collection of essays illustates how understudied and misunderstood Collins' life is despite the number of words lavished upon him

MICHAEL COLLINS AND THE BROTHERHOOD Vincent MacDowell (Ashfield Press, 1997)
This is not a straightforward, documented history book. Rather, it is a work of "faction", essentially a blend of fiction and fact, and because of that it loses any authority it might have had. Radical theories are propounded and Collins' killer is named as a member of his own convoy. Provocative reading guarenteed.

MICHAEL COLLINS AND THE WOMEN IN HIS LIFE Meda Ryan (Mercier Press 1996)
The only book of its type and long overdue. Collins' girlfriends and helpers are documented in this book that illustrates that women just as much as men were vital to Collins' war machine. Further insights into his relationships with London society ladies would be preferable.

MICHAEL COLLINS AND THE MAKING OF A NEW IRELAND Piaras Beaslai (Phoenix 1926)

MICHAEL COLLINS: The Lost Leader Margery Forester (Sphere 1972)
This well-documented, well researched book was one of the main books Neil Jordan used in his writing of the screenplay.

MICHAEL COLLINS AND THE TREATY T. Ryle Dwyer (Mercier Press 1990)

MICHAEL COLLINS, MURDER OR ACCIDENT J.M Feehan (Mercier Press 1981)
Interesting questions posed in this "who shot Collins book". However, few are answered and indeed, Meda Ryan in her 1989 publication answered many of the questions posed.

MICHAEL COLLINS Rex Taylor (Four Square Books, 1961)

MICHAEL COLLINS Leon O'Broin (Gill and Macmillan 1980)

MICHAEL COLLINS: The Man Who Won the War T. Ryle Dwyer (Mercier Press 1990)

MICHAEL COLLINS AND THE INVISIBLE ARMY Desmond Ryan (Anvil Books 1977 ed.)

MICHAEL COLLINS Colm Connolly (Weidenfeld & Nicholson 1996)
An attractively put-together coffee table book which gives a potted history of Collins' life. Beautifully illustrated.

MICHAEL COLLINS, A LIFE James Mackay (Mainstream Publishing 1996)

MICHAEL COLLINS: IN HIS OWN WORDS F. Costello (Gill & Macmillan 1997)

MICHAEL COLLINS: THE FINAL DAYS by Justin Nelson (J.N. Productions '97)

THE DAY MICHAEL COLLINS WAS SHOT Meda Ryan (Poolbeg Press 1989)
The most authoritative of the "who shot Collins" books. This was the first book to name Sonny O'Neill as Collins' killer, although Colm Connolly's RTE documentary, The Shadow of Beal na mBlath, beat her to it.

THE GRAINNE JOURNALS Robert Coyle (Basement Press 1995)

THE MAN WHO MADE IRELAND Tim Pat Coogan (Roberts Rinehart 1991)

THE BIG FELLOW Frank O'Connor (Clonmore & Reynolds, Ltd. 1965 ed.)
While not as detailed as other biographies, the master story-teller's touch of Frank O'Connor adds something very special to this, his first book.

THE PATH TO FREEDOM Michael Collins (Mercier Press 1995 ed.)

THE END OF THE HUNT Thomas Flanagan (Dutton 1994)