After establishing himself as a master filmmaker, Roberto Rossellini departed briefly from his familiar milieu to create a series of historical dramas for television. These oft-overlooked projects--BLAISE PASCAL, THE AGE OF THE MEDICI, and CARTESIUS--capture some of the West?s most important minds and moments in all of their gritty details (in keeping with Realist tradition, Rossellini resists dressing up the past in exaggerated finery). Each of these historical programs is included here in full, along with commentary by Rossellini biographer Tag Gallagher.