Three years in the troubled British Isles, leading up to the election of Boris Johnson. Three years in the troubled British Isles from the bestselling author of Heroic Failure . In 2011 Queen Elizabeth made her first ever state visit to the Irish Republic. It was a great, moving occasion. In settling once and for all its relationship with Ireland, Britain was also settling its relationship with the rest of the world, taking its place as a normal, equal democracy. It was not to last. Then came the 2016 referendum, and so began Three Years in Hell