'the book that really brought Collins alive to me was Frank O’Connor’s The Big Fellow’ – Neil Jordan Re-issued with an introduction by Neil Jordan, The Big Fellow is the 1937 biography of the famed Irish leader Michael Collins by acclaimed author Frank O'Connor.

It is an uncompromising but humane study of Collins, whose stature and genius O’Connor recognised. A masterly, evocative portrait of one of Ireland’s most charismatic figures, The Big Fellow covers the period of Collins' life from the Easter Rising in 1916 to his death in 1922 during the Irish Civil War.

The author, having served with the Anti-Treaty IRA during the Irish Civil War, wrote 'The Big Fellow' as a form of reparation over the guilt he felt with regards to taking up arms against his fellow Irishmen and Collins' untimely death.

Liam Neeson has said that he found the book of great assistance when preparing for the role of Collins in the 1996 film directed by Neil Jordan.