Guided by his Bradshaw’s 1913 Handbook of Indian, Foreign and Colonial Travel, Michael Portillo embarks on a journey through time from the British Raj to the India of today. His rail adventure begins in the Punjab and takes him from the Sikh holy city of Amritsar to the former imperial summer capital, high in the hills at Shimla.

At the dazzling Golden Temple in Amritsar, Michael helps to feed thousands in the world’s largest free kitchen. In Ludhiana, he uncovers a pioneering women’s medical college and en route to Ambala, he follows the tracks ridden by millions of migrants during the dark days of Partition. Show less