A glorious insight into the history, landscape and people of Britain, from The Sunday Times bestseller. Beginning with the grandeur of Oxford, Michael Portillo travels through the country of Shakespeare and Elgar and discovers the delights of Oxford sausages and Worcester sauce, the beauties of Malvern and its spa and the craft of glove-making. The journey continues into Wales, where the landscape is soon dominated by the development of the mining, steel and shipping industries, which in turn gave rise to the trade union movement and the birth of the Labour Party. Places visited: Oxford, Stratford, Worcester, Malvern, Hereford, Abergavenny, South Wales, Cardiff, Abercynon, Barry Island, Merthyr Tydfil, Blaenavon, Haverfordwest, St David's, Milford Haven. This individual journey is one of a series taken from the bestselling books Great British Railway Journeys and Great Victorian Railway Journeys that accompany the highly successful BBC Two series. Michael Portillo follows the famous George Bradshaw railway guides in railway journeys across the length and breadth of the country, discovering spectacular scenery and stunning architecture and exploring local history and industry.