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Michael Portillo crosses the Atlantic to ride the railroads of America.

Michael Portillo crosses the Atlantic to ride the railroads of America, armed with Appleton's General Guide to the United States, published in 1879.

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Great American Railroad Journeys: Series 3 Reversions

Michael Portillo

Chris Bairstow

Alison Kreps

FremantleMedia

Great American Railroad Journeys: Series 3 Reversions: Episode 6: Boston to Concord

Episode 6

Episode 6: Boston to Concord

Series 3 Reversions

Boston to Concord

BBC Two - Great American Railroad Journeys, Series 3 Reversions, Boston to Concord

Michael Portillo joins the Sons of Liberty aboard ship in Boston harbour.

Michael Portillo joins the Sons of Liberty aboard ship in Boston harbour. Will he help rebels jettison 112 crates of East India Company tea?

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.

At 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.

Michael'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.

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Steered by his Appleton's guide, Michael Portillo goes on an adventure through California.

Steered by his 19th-century Appleton's guidebook, Michael Portillo embarks on a one thousand-mile American adventure through California.

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Episode 6: Boston to Concord

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