Maybe parts of Starting Out: Open Games by GM Glenn Flear (2010) would be helpful.
https://web.archive.org/web/20140626232452/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen134.pdf
Maybe also Discovering Chess Openings by GM John Emms (2006)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf
and Fundamental Chess Openings by Paul van der Sterren (2009).
https://web.archive.org/web/20140626173432/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen128.pdf
The 'general' opening books are near-useless for me, I've found.
I have the FCO by Van Der Sterren, and while it's probably as good as you can get for a opening encyclopedia, it offers so few plans and lines for any particular opening that in practical purposes, I find it useless. I definitely get better/deeper opening suggestions by just opening Stockfish and choosing the top lines that are along the lines of what I would play. (The Van Der Sterren book is so sparse on plans and middlegame setups that it's no different than trying to figure it out why the chess engine favors a certain move.)
In contrast, I find high value in annotated selected game collections of a particular opening, with the in-depth concrete examples played out from start to finish. Even if I don't play the exact lines shown in the book, I'll feel much more comfortable in a position having gone over several games in depth.
Well, the Flear book has about 88 pages on the "Quiet Italian", "Two Knights Defence", "Evans Fambit", and "Giuoco Piano", including 24 games. I suppose you could try Chess Openings for White, Explained by Alburt, Dzindzichashvili & Perelshteyn (2006) but note the expressed reservations about the quality of that book.
http://www.theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/good...good...good...disastrous
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627032909/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen89.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20140626210017/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen132.pdf
Italian stuff also gets some space in Mastering the Chess Openings Volume 1.
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627115737/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen99.pdf
The Evans Gambit turns up in Volume 4.
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627070808/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen137.pdf
Chris Baker's A Startling Chess Opening Repertoire advocates 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 0-0.
http://www.theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/more-nco-gambits-and-repertoires
Not sure if that is of interest to you. If you are willing to go back a decade or so, there were two books by IM Jan Pinski, The Two Knights Defence and Italian Game and Evans Gambit. Over a hundred games in those two.
https://web.archive.org/web/20140626192818/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen78.pdf
I've been surprised at how little literature is out there on the Italian game, which is a solid, albeit well-studied, heavily theoretical opening now.
I've actually avoided playing it after I was 1100 (haven't played it for at least 2 years) mainly because other than aping computer lines, I couldn't find any good explanatory books or 'move by move' type annotated game collections that would allow me to play it with more understanding.
Anyone know any good books on the Italian game?