Bacchelli, Riccardo (1891-1985)

Italian novelist and literary critic. He wrote two historical novels remarkable for their wealth of detail, their humour, and their finished style: Il diavolo al Pontelungo/The Devil at the Long Bridge (1927) and Il mulino del Po/The Mill on the Po (1938-40).

Both are set in the 19th century. The former deals with a socialist group; the latter, a three-volume novel of epic dimensions, is set against the Risorgimento (Italian unification movement).