Nearly a year after the death of Terri Schiavo, a family feud over the irreversibly brain damaged woman has been further strained with the release of competing memoirs by her husband and parents.

In his book, Terri: The Truth, Schiavo's widower, Michael, speaks out for the first time on the battle set off by his decision to have his wife's feeding tube removed, which he says was based on her wish not to be kept alive by artificial means.

Robert and Mary Schindler, who insisted that their daughter showed signs of awareness and could recover, present an entirely opposite view in A Life That Matters: The Legacy of Terri Schiavo, a Lesson For Us All, which is published today.

Mr Schiavo was pitted against his in-laws, the Christian right and the Vatican and ultimately, the US Congress and President George Bush. He was maligned for his refusal to divorce his wife and allow her parents to decide her fate, despite embarking on a relationship with another woman after Terri Schiavo's collapse.

The feud continued through Schiavo's last breath, when her husband barred her brother from her bedside, to her funeral, which was a cremation against her Catholic family's wishes.

The blurb for Mr Schiavo's account says: "A religious zealot offered $250,000 to anyone who would kill me. My two babies were threatened with death. I was condemned by the president, the majority leaders of the House and Senate, the governor of Florida, the Pope, and the rightwing media, all because I was doing what Terri - the woman I loved - wanted."

The Schindlers' account, told through the voices of her parents, brother Bobby and sister Suzanne, claims to deliver the inside story of the troubled relationship between Terri and Michael Schiavo, and is said to include details that "will haunt readers forever: a bereft family barred by the police from their daughter's hospice room in the final moments of her life".

The volumes are among some 10 books published or soon to be released on the Schiavo case.

"The case had a searing impact in many ways on Americans in terms of the battle, and the plight of the young woman, and the family fight was certainly dramatic and commanded everyone's attention ..." said Arthur Caplan, co-editor of The Case of Terri Schiavo: Ethics at the End of Life.

An autopsy showed Schiavo had no discernible brain activity when she died.