The World's First Full Press Freedom: The Radical Experiment of Denmark-Norway 1770–1773

Published by De Gruyter in 2023, this scholarly volume examines the brief but transformative period of unrestricted press freedom in the dual monarchy of Denmark-Norway between 1770 and 1773. The study focuses on the reformist era initiated by Johann Friedrich Struensee, a physician who seized control of the Danish government and briefly abolished censorship, creating a volatile yet pioneering laboratory for public discourse in Enlightenment Europe.

Author Ulrik Langen, a professor of history at the University of Copenhagen, provides a meticulous analysis of how this radical legislative experiment fundamentally shifted the relationship between the monarchy and the public. By tracing the surge of pamphlets and political debates that emerged during these years, the work documents how this experiment ended abruptly with the fall of Struensee, offering a sophisticated historical reflection on the fragility of free speech in an absolute monarchy.