
Armed with his 19th-century Appleton's guidebook to the United States and Canada, Michael Portillo embarks on a 1100-mile railroad journey from Boston, Massachusetts, across the border to Toronto in the Canadian province of Ontario.\n\nAt risk of being uncovered as a Tory spy, Michael joins the Sons of Liberty aboard ship in Boston harbour. Will he help rebels jettison 112 crates of East India Company tea? On the route of one of the earliest railroads in the United States, he reaches Lowell, the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution. An historic streetcar conveys him to the Boott Cotton Mills, where he discovers a flagrant act of industrial espionage and militancy among the thousands of women and girls who worked there.\n\nMichael's guide sets him on the trail of the second largest organ in the world, located now in Haverhill. He is rewarded with a rousing rendition of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, courtesy of the 19th century Handel and Haydn Choir. In the fine dome atop Massachusetts General Hospital, where no-one could hear the screaming, Michael discovers the scene of grisly surgery, first made bearable, in 1846, by a miraculous new substance. North of Boston, in Salem, Michael is caught up in a witch hunt. He gets a taste of the hysteria which gripped the town in the 17th century and how events were reinterpreted at the time of his guide. And in Concord, where the first shots of the American Revolution were fired, Michael discovers the home of the celebrated author of the coming of age classic Little Women and hears the story behind the novel.
Source: BBC 2
Series 2 Reversions: 9. Chicago To Champaign, Illinois
16-09-2024
BBC 2
Series 2 Reversions: 5. Santa Fe, New Mexico, To The Grand Canyon
09-09-2024
BBC 2
Series 2 Reversions: 4. La Junta To Colorado Springs
05-09-2024
BBC 2
Series 2 Reversions: 2. Sedalia To St Joseph, Missouri
04-09-2024
BBC 2
Series 2 Reversions: 1. St Louis To Jefferson City, Missouri
02-09-2024
BBC 2
Series 4: 6. Halifax To Prince Edward Island
Michael Portillo begins a new journey on the tracks of the Ocean line to explore Canada’s maritime provinces en route to Quebec City.\n\nClutching his 1899 Appleton’ ...
27-09-2022
BBC 2
Series 4: 5. Kamloops To Calgary
Clutching his 1899 Appleton’s Guide, Michael Portillo boards one of the world’s most famous trains, the Rocky Mountaineer, to cross the backbone of the North America ...
26-09-2022
BBC 2
Alaska And Canada: 1. Ninilchik To Spencer Whistlestop
Michael Portillo heads for the Last Frontier of the United States armed with his 1899 Appleton's Guide-Book to Alaska. Written by an intrepid 19th-century female explorer, the b ...
24-07-2023
BBC 2
Series 3 Reversions: 1. Reno To The Napa Valley
Steered by his 19th-century Appleton's guidebook, Michael Portillo embarks on a one thousand-mile American adventure through California. Along the way he discovers how the railr ...
04-06-2018
BBC 2
Series 3: 15. Berkeley To Yosemite
Michael Portillo's rail voyage continues through northern California, moving east in search of the state's greatest national treasures. To unearth the region's dangers deep unde ...
30-11-2022
BBC 2