Publicity

For Sealand: The True Story of the World’s Most Stubborn Micronation and its Eccentric Royal Family:

Review from Publishers Weekly: “…Taylor-Lehman delivers a memorable portrait of one family’s attempt to escape, as Prince Roy Bates puts it, the world’s “damn bureaucracy.” This idiosyncratic history entertains.”

My appearance on the History Unplugged podcast with estimable and affable historian Scott Rank.

Talking once again with the brilliant Vick Mickunas on the long-running Book Nook.

Chatting it up for an entire hour (!) with WBAI’s Leonard Lopate in NYC.

A short convo with Narratively (where I am a staff writer) about the process of researching and writing this book.

Advance praise:

“Sealand is a rollicking ride across a tumultuous and astoundingly improbable history. How did I not know about this? How can a heap of concrete and metal in the North Sea possibly be the newest and smallest country in the world? Prepare to be charmed and transfixed by Roy Bates, the swashbuckling, visionary Prince of Sealand and his ‘micro Royal Family’ who stave off sea invaders, cyber coups, and attempted governmental takeovers in the name of freedom. An unlikely, remarkable, riveting story.”―Buddy Levy, bestselling author of Labyrinth of Ice: The Triumphant and Tragic Greely Polar Expedition

“In Sealand, Dylan Taylor-Lehman offers a thoroughly researched, stranger-than-fiction account of a rogue principality a fraction the size of Buckingham Palace. With decades of outrageous shenanigans and unparalleled bravado on display, the story of the Bates family gives the term royalty a whole new meaning.”―Robert Jobson, Royal Editor for the London Evening Standard; and author of King Charles: The Man, The Monarch, and The Future of Britain

“Outrageously funny yet tender at its core, Sealand chronicles an oddball visionary’s quest to create a legacy that even kings and emperors might envy. The gifted Dylan Taylor-Lehman has blessed us with a book every bit as madcap and admirable as Roy Bates’s dream of a sovereign North Sea paradise.”―Brendan I. Koerner, author of The Skies Belong to Us and Now the Hell Will Start

“Sealand proves that a factual story can be weirder than fiction. What makes Dylan Taylor-Lehman’s expertly researched, oddball historical yarn so compelling is its uncanny attention to reality. Spanning swashbuckling invasions and legal hairsplitting, governments in exile and schemes by scammers, this book testifies that even the tiniest of nations―and dreams―can have inspirational and kick-ass origin stories.”―Ethan Gilsdorf, author of Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks

“Dylan Taylor-Lehman deserves an award―or maybe a Sealand title of nobility―for this brilliant tale chronicling a little-known story. Sealand is endlessly captivating, like a thriller, and filled with crisp, evocative writing. Now, you’ll have to excuse me, I’m visiting the principality to become an official ‘Lord of Sealand.'”―Bob Batchelor, author of The Bourbon King

For Dance of the Trustees: On the Astonishing Concerns of a Small Ohio Township:

“Dylan Taylor-Lehman has a curiosity that knows no bounds, and he has trained it on the quirky concerns of a village and township in southwest Ohio where he lived for two years. Lucky for us, the readers, his narrative voice is as charming and distinctive as his curiosity is strong. This book is a funny, informative, and delightful look at small town shenanigans and goings-on.” —Diane Chiddister, Editor, Yellow Springs News

Interview on WYSO’s Book Nook, August 2018: Please feel free to listen to this interview I did with Vick Mickunas for the long-running and always interesting program Book Nook.

We spoke about my book Dance of the Trustees, life in Yellow Springs, the joys and difficulties of writing nonfiction, and some of the strange situations I’ve managed to get myself into and/or write about over the years. Thanks a ton to Vick for the invite, and although everyone usually dislikes hearing their own voice, I have to say I think this turned out pretty well!

Also, check out this profile of yours truly for papers in New Mexico when I was working there as a reporter.