Michael Portillo continues his 1,000-mile journey from Minnesota to Tennessee, beginning and ending on the Mississippi River. Riding the mainline of mid-America, Michael stops at rural Mattoon, where he gets a taste of the tough early life which shaped President Abraham Lincoln. Wiping the sweat from his brow, Michael struggles to split one rail compared with Lincoln's estimated 700-a-day. Basket in hand, Michael joins the Schwartz family apple harvest in Centralia and learns how to make apple butter. He uncovers industrial unrest in the coal mines of Carbondale, then heads to Kentucky and the banks of the Mississippi, where a bloody conflict unfolded, which proved decisive in victory for Lincoln's Union.

Aboard a paddle steamer on the lower Mississippi, Michael hears about the life and work of former riverboat captain Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain. In the city of Memphis, Tennessee, he visits the historic Elmwood Cemetery, where he uncovers the story of a devastating epidemic. In the home of the blues, Michael meets contemporary musician Cedric Burnside in the studio before joining millions of Elvis fans at Graceland. Fellow rail fans at Memphis Station share their passion, and an invitation to a duck palace and the honorary position of Duck Master carry curious responsibilities at the 19th-century Peabody Hotel.