[Commlist] New: book: The World's First Full Press Freedom: The Radical Experiment of Denmark-Norway 1770–1773

Ulrik Langen’s and Frederik Stjernfelt’s book, /The World’s First Full 
Press Freedom/, was published yesterday in Open Access with De Gruyter 
in Berlin.

The World's First Full Press Freedom
The Radical Experiment of Denmark-Norway 1770–1773
Ulrik Langen and Frederik Stjernfelt
Funded by: Carlsberg Foundation

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110771800




About this book

Open Access

The book charts an extraordinary period in Danish history: the "Press 
Freedom Period" of 1770-73, in which King Christian 7's physician J.F. 
Struensee introduced a series of radical enlightenment reforms beginning 
with the total abolishment of censorship.

The book investigates the sudden avalanche of pamphlets and debates, 
initiating the modern public sphere of Denmark-Norway. Publications show 
a surprising variety, from serious political, economic, and 
philosophical treatises over criticism, polemics, ridicule, 
entertainment, and to spin campaigns, obscenities, libel, threats.

A successful coup against Struensee led to his subsequent public 
execution in Copenhagen, and the latter half of the period saw the 
gradual smothering of the new public sphere as well as an international 
pamphlet storm over what was happening in Denmark.

Readers all over Europe proved curious to learn about the radical 
experiment with enlightened absolutism in Denmark; interest was 
heightened by the involvement of the Danish Queen, the English princess 
Caroline Matilda to whom Struensee had an intimate relation.

The book is a detailed portrayal of a seminal event in the development 
of the public sphere in Europe.

Author information

Ulrik Langen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark; Frederik Stjernfelt, 
Aalborg University Copenhagen, Denmark.

Reviews

“‘Denmark-Norway’, a single kingdom in early modern times, was the first 
Western society to decree full freedom of the press without restriction 
or censorship. Being far ahead of Britain, France and North America in 
this respect, the press freedom brought in the Danish realms in 1770-73 
created a huge drama and international furore. This excellent book 
provides the first comprehensive account in English of one of the great 
landmark events of world history in the Enlightenment era.” – Jonathan 
Israel, Professor Emeritus, Princeton Institute for Advanced Study

“This is the first exhaustive study of the astonishing Press Freedom 
experiment that took place at the fringes of European Enlightenment. The 
book offers a rich and entertaining account of the eruption of new 
voices, topics, tones and self-reflective communication practices that 
came with the sudden liberty. Historians have formerly dismissed the 
Press Freedom writings as "a mud bath of trash literature" and "a 
Walpurgis Night of rudeness, stupidity and meanness". In today’s 
fast-changing and challenging media landscape, the remarkable years of 
Press Freedom gain new relevance. Ulrik Langen and Frederik Stjernfelt’s 
study is a compelling demonstration of the importance of this moment, in 
the history of Denmark-Norway as well as in the general history of 
freedom of expression.” – Ellen Krefting, Professor of Intellectual 
History, University of Oslo, Norway.
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