Hi Chris .
I sure that there are books available however I am sure that they would be in Italian ,,try Amazon .it..
As for flying AR powered aircraft the only one that I am sure of is a Caproni Ca.100idro floatplane which has been brought back to flying condition . the first Photo attached are from
http://www.fly-net.org/aeromedia/amedgb.html good for info on all things connected with Italian aviation .The flying examples are from Aeroclubmilano
www.aeroclubmilano.it from a selection of photos of 2005 airshow .
Charley