Sealand: The True Story of the World's Most Stubborn Micronation and Its Eccentric Royal Family

by Dylan Taylor-Lehman, Patrick Lawlor (Reader)

In 1967, a retired army major and self-made millionaire named Paddy Roy Bates cemented his family’s place in history when he inaugurated himself ruler of the Principality of Sealand, a tiny dominion of the high seas. And so began the peculiar story of the world’s most stubborn micronation on a World War II anti-aircraft gun platform off the British coast.Sealand is the raucous tale of how a rogue adventurer seized the disused Maunsell Sea Fort from pirate radio broadcasters, settled his eccentric family on it, and defended their tiny kingdom from UK government officials and armed mercenaries for half a century. Incorporating original interviews with surviving Sealand royals, Dylan Taylor-Lehman recounts the battles and schemes as Roy and his crew engaged with diplomats, entertained purveyors of pirate radio and TV, and even thwarted an attempted coup that saw the Prince Regent taken hostage. Incredibly, more than fifty years later, the self-proclaimed independent nation still stands―replete with its own constitution, national flag and anthem, currency, and passports.This stranger-than-fiction account of a dissident family and their outrageous attempt to build a sovereign kingdom on an isolated platform in shark-infested waters is the stuff of legend.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Adult

Audio CD

First published June 9, 2020

About the author

Dylan Taylor-Lehman is a nonfiction writer from the foothills of Appalachia who has lived in and reported from numerous biomes.

Previously a reporter for the award-winning Yellow Springs News (OH) and the Alamogordo Daily News (NM), Taylor-Lehman is currently a staff writer for the lauded longform journalism website Narratively. He has written for a variety of publications about landfill ecosystems, strange crimes, modern Kafkology, and the history of the Spanish tortilla.

His first book, Dance of the Trustees, chronicles the astonishing concerns of a small Ohio township, and his history of the Principality of Sealand, the world's foremost micronation, was published by Diversion Books in June 2020, with the UK and international editions forthcoming by Icon Books in September.

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

thanks to netgalley and publishers for a free copy in return for an open and honest review


interesting book about sealand which was a former ww2 platform and in the 1960's became a pirate radio station and the following years of German involvement well worth reading

[Miles Row · Rating 5 out of 5]

I decided to read this book given I've grown up being able to see it from Felixstowe and the book was much more interesting than I expected.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not quite sure how this fascinating story managed to completely pass me by, but I was delighted to finally discover it. Sealand, an eccentric micronation just off the coast of the UK, was proclaimed a sovereign nation in 1967 by Paddy Roy Bates, who became the first King of this new country. I’d never even heard of micronations – but there are more of them than you might expect and the book goes on to describe some of them. The story of Sealand is a long and somewhat convoluted one, and the author spares us no details, but overall it’s such an interesting tale that I found I could forgive the occasional longueur. Plenty of web material to follow up on and I would recommend looking at some photos before embarking on the book, otherwise it’s quite hard to imagine what Sealand actually looks like. All in all, a compelling read indeed.

[Shelby · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was not at all what I expected. I’ll be honest, I am not a huge fan of historical/nonfiction type books, I usually find myself falling asleep while reading them but this was the exact opposite. Exciting and witty while still being incredibly informative, this honestly felt a lot like fiction in many cases - I would highly recommend this and I am very thankful it was recommended to me. I’ve been talking my partners ear off about all the things I’ve learned. Maybe I should give historical nonfiction another chance.

[Henry Rausch · Rating 5 out of 5]

perfect storytelling of a fairy-tail-like true story

I bought this for research fir a book I am writing but found myself engrossed in the tale. It is just long and detailed enough without being too ling and boring. If you are interested in Sealand, thus is the book to have.

[Matt Knepper · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had never heard of the micro-nation, Sealand, until this book was suggested for a book club read. I feel somewhat slighted that I never learned about this principality until now. What a crazy history! I really enjoyed learning about the Bates family and their adventures. However, I was frustrated more than once when a topic ended abruptly with a note telling me there would be more about it in a later chapter. The beginning of the book really didn’t hook me. I had trouble figuring out if this was a book about a country or a family. It turns out it’s both, but that didn’t feel solid to me until about sixty pages in. Once it settled into the meat of the story, I was gripped. A bit disjointed, but a fascinating read.

[Petra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and Icon Books for the ARC in return for an honest review.

I was really looking forward to reading this as I’ve long been fascinated by the idea of the Principality of Sealand, the world’s smallest country.

Years ago, I even bought some official Sealand stamps from the Sealand website, but they never arrived! I’ll try not to let that disappointment taint the reading of this book!

BUT - I found this a difficult read because Roy Bates described as a ‘crafty shark’, ‘a loveable rogue’ in the book, and his son Michael, just came across as violent thuggish bullies. I’m guessing we’re supposed to find their attempts at ‘holding the fort’ as brave, crazy and humorous - but unfortunately, these depictions just turned my stomach!
It’s really no surprise that a man like Roy Bates wanted to rule his own country and dictate his own rules.

The book is filled with constant legal and political wrangles and dodgy money-making schemes, which whilst necessary to tell the story of Sealand (which seemed to be mired in battles of one sort or another for the past fifty years), unfortunately bored me rigid.

The author battles bravely with this absolutely bonkers tale and were it not for his easy-going writing style, I would have been hard-pushed to want to finish this book.

A fascinating subject, but sadly, this book didn’t work for me.

[Violet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Free ARC from NetGalley.

I enjoyed learning more about the topic - I had heard of Sealand but did not know much about it. Learning about how it started, legal challenges, etc was really interesting and I actually preferred the chapters focusing on these legal questions. I personally would have enjoyed the book more if I had felt the author was a bit more objective - I understand and love the enthusiasm for the alternative, but at times it felt... complacent. To me, Roy Bates and Michael Bates didn't come accross as modern times heroes and fun pirates when they throw explosives on boats and threaten and bully so many people.. Stealing equipment from other local radios is not Roy being "as ruthless as he was brave" - it's theft. And the part where he leaves his crew on the platform for SEVENTEEN days with 4 days worths of food?
I think overall it was an interesting read but really would have liked the author to at least pretend he found the behaviour of Roy and Michael incredibly problematic.

[Dave Ryerson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is pure insanity (in a good way)! Though it peaked in the first half...

[Noah Goats · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book about a group of oddballs who decided to declare a new, though very tiny, independent nation in the North Sea, although it sort of runs out of gas towards the end.

During WWII the British navy built a gun platform that looked a lot like an oil rig six miles off its coast. The purpose of this, and similar platforms, was to shoot down German bombers before they could even reach England. After the war most of these forts were abandoned and this book tells the story of the platform that was occupied by the Bates family. Originally they thought it would make a great base for pirate radio (in the sixties, the British only permitted publicly funded BBC stations to exist, and they didn't play much rock & roll, so people began setting up commercial radio stations on ships and broadcasting popular music to a British public hungry to hear the likes of the Rolling Stones). They had to fight battles to take it over and to retain it. Eventually they declared themselves an independent nation and tried to find ways to make their independent nation profitable (one of these was by becoming a haven for sketchy websites. It was in this era that I first read about Sealand in Wired).

This book tells the story of their quixotic efforts to stand up to the British government (which, along with the rest of the world, refuses to recognize their independence) as well as interior enemies. At one point they had to fight off a coup, and the defeated putschists set up a government in exile that continues to this day. A pretend government for a pretend nation.

Taylor-Lehman takes the enterprise a bit too seriously, and clearly thinks the whole Sealand saga is grand. While I like to have oddballs out in the world doing oddball things, Sealand is still fundamentally silly. We are talking about a group of adults who call themselves "prince" and "princess" because they rule, or claim to rule, over a rusty old piece of concrete and steel one square acre in size. And they make most of their money these days by selling fake titles to their fake country.

Still. You gotta love the weirdos. They're the ones who make life interesting.

[Tim Gillett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Without being beastly to the author, it's a shame it's taken a non Briton to write this book. Ideally it needed to be written by someone with a full understanding of England's geography, English eccentricity and 60's "pirate" radio. However it's not a bad effort and the chapters on the later period of Sealand are very interesting, especially descriptions of the attempt by a group of Germans to take over the principality, the explanation of how it appears Sealand, in a roundabout way has been unofficially recognised as an independent state, and interviews with the two caretakers who take it in turns to keep the place secure from unwanted guests. Why the pair would do such a job is beyond me, though the author discovers through interviews with them that they like the extreme solitude, extreme weather and sense of adventure. It seems absurd that the British government allowed Roy Bates and then his son to remain on the sea platform after they claimed it, as to storm it and take it back is well within the capabilities of elite British forces. I guess the government would then have to either destroy it or seal it up and make it impregnable to others, but even that seems more desirable than allowing the risky business of winching the "owner" and his caretakers on and off. It'll be interesting to see whether the next generation of the Bates family continue to want to treat it as their principality or whether eventually they lose interest and leave. If they attempted to sell it, that is the point at which presumably the authorities would show an interest if money was being exchanged as things like stamp duty would need paying. First though, a buyer would have to be found and I can't see anyone rushing to buy it.

[Jacob Saunders · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've seen Sealand before, in the distance when standing atop the Naze tower in Essex, but I didn't know much else about it other than that it was an old naval fort which had been declared it's own country. So, when I discovered this book, I got very curious to read about the world's smallest nation and I'm glad I did!

I was expecting an unusual, eccentric story and a connection to radio pirates, but so much more has happened on this tiny principality than I'd have ever imagined and it's so much more bizarre and wild than I anticipated, as well. Taking in coups, invasion attempts, clashes with foreign governments and the insanity of a self-declared Sealandic government-in-exile, this is a truly unique, fascinating and often amusing story of a truly unique place that engaged and surprised me the whole way through.

It's all told with genuine enthusiasm by the author, too, which helps to really endear the cast of eccentric characters at the heart of it, particularly the Bates family themselves. It was interesting to read the further micronational history peppered throughout to help contextualise Sealand and the uniqueness of its story even within that world and it, surprisingly, makes you think genuinely about what really makes a country and where the line of what an accepted "nation" is. E Mare Libertas!

[Rebekah Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Until I came across this book, I had never heard of the Principality of Sealand before. I was intrigued by the idea of a tiny micronation, but I had no idea that it was established on an old anti-aircraft platform off the coast of England.
Part of this book was a mixture of comedy and action. Part of it was dry and hard to keep reading. I wasn’t interested in all the legal details about a boat being registered to Sealand, or the whole HavenCo chapter. And the details about the other “micronations” didn’t seem to fit with a book about Sealand. But then other parts were quite interesting.

The description on the back of the book about “an isolated platform in shark-infested waters” made me wonder a bit since there was no mention of a single shark. This also said it featured photographs, but the copy I read didn’t have a single picture except on the cover. I was quite disappointed. I know this was an advanced review copy, but still, I felt cheated.

Overall, it was an interesting read (for the most part), but I probably won’t be reading it again.

[Andy James · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got into this thinking it would be a tongue-in-cheek rundown of an eccentric man, but as the story went on and Roy Bates took more and more serious action to make Sealand a sovereign nation I had to take the book more seriously. Every few pages I would keep thinking “This guy is actually doing this!” The early history got really exciting and the author did a great job of getting the reader involved in the journey to legitimize Sealand.

I also learned A LOT. Apparently turning a WWII sea fort into a pirate radio station and then a sovereign nation touches on a lot of trivia. Random facts and laws that I never knew of kept popping up throughout this story - it kept me engaged even when the main story of Sealand seemed to get a little tiresome towards the end. My loyalty to the text would stray a bit, but then I would be brought right back in with a “wait, what?!” It always ended up being worth it to keep reading.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read about a lot of things I knew absolutely nothing about a week ago.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating and strange look at a so-called micronation off the coast of England. I had never heard of this place - a WWII-era defense platform in the sea - even though it's existed for about 50 years. As interesting as it is, these people are loons. The narcissism and hubris of people to just say they've founded a sovereign nation and then give themselves royal status is astounding. They're squatters who now sell souvenir crap and "titles" so they can maintain their boondoggle that they don't even reside on full-time.

[Alex Gruenenfelder · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been fascinated by micronations, small and often self-declared countries that the international community does not recognize, since I was in my early teenage years. And there is undoubtedly no more crucial micronation to study than Sealand, on a platform in the middle of the ocean off the coast of England. The story of Sealand is told in fun and fascinating detail in this work, which gives Sealand arguably more respect and more of a historian's lens than it deserves. For fans of micronations and the study of governments, give this a read for a good time.

[Meg Rice · Rating 3 out of 5]

This audiobook is dragging on so. The history and chapters of Sealand's life, as a country, are rebellious, dangerous, possibly illegal, greatly debated, and lengthy.

This man-made-tower-country is indeed of interest, however, I found it necessary to vary my reading diet with at least 5 other books while continuing to listen to this audiobook. If you want every painful detail of Sealand, this book will deliver.

[Lucas Dickinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well… this started very cool & interesting. The history of the Bates family & the Principality of Sealand is indeed fascinating. However, this book takes long divergences from the story which can be interesting but most go on too long with information that isn’t really important to the story/history of Sealand. Those really slow the story down. This book isn’t bad by any means, but it could have used a bit more time in editing.

[AJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came across this book in a book shop and was completely unfamiliar with the story. It is absolutely fascinating learning about the Principality of Sealand and the Bates Family. An absolute page turner, with each page more unbelievable than the previous. I have already started recommending this books to friends.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only really knew of Sealand from the early 2000s internet interest, the Wired cover story etc etc. The rest of this is pretty interesting but struggles with jumping around a lot so it never feels like it quite flows. More than once a note that the subject will be dealt with again in a later chapter and so this quite often killed any flow that the book had going.

[Rohan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written . Humourous at times appropriately suspenseful at all the right beats . Reads like a fictional adventure story that happens to be true.
I may never visit Sealand but I loved this peek into the idiosyncranacies of International law.
I have rarely found a non fiction book that reads more like fiction. But don't worry It's true I have googled it.

[Eliza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting stories about micronation Sealand, how it was build and what happened after that. I started to rethink what’s the foundation of the country and what is it different than privet property. This book is also one of the research and reference I read when I was doing my master degrees graduation art show (I build my own micronation as well) and thesis.

[Ives Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rarely, there are books that manage to capture political intrigue, wild adventures, and the magic and awe of chasing dreams as Lehman's book on this eccentric country and the proud, lively royal family that rule it. This is a necessary read for enthusiasts of international law and micronationalism!

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really deep look in to a fascinating micronation.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite an entertaining and raucous tale!

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by a journalist in an engaging style- but not objective by any means. Still an interesting overview of Sealand from its founding to present day. Worth reading!

[Jonathan Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting read for a little-known subject for most Americans.

[Michael Novak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very enjoyable, with a nice, light tone appropriate for the material. It starts to lag a bit after the initial story, when it becomes a series of anecdotes. But a fun read!

[Ian Chester · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a character and what an idea to set yourself up as ruler of your own kindom! A must read for anybody interested in the quirky/ mad Englishman

[Stephen Troutner · Rating 5 out of 5]

E Mare Libertas.