As a whole, Green's Crisis of Truth is a well written, intriguing exploration of the legal history of the fourteenth century. Green's analysis, interestingly, centers not around new evidence or theory but on a philological reading centered on the semantic shift of the word "truth." Per Green's text, the term only began to gain the sense in which it is currently used, that of the actual events or facts, which had previously been contained in the Middle English term "sooth." Green unpacks three other major sense of the term that were much more common in Ricardian England: legal, "a promise, a pledge of loyalty, a covenant," ethical, "fidelity, loyalty," and the theological, "divine righteousness...belief" (9). Green argues that this semantic shift mirrors a shift in legal systems in late medieval England, shifting away from local law that Green terms "folklaw" towards more centralized legal systems under royal authority. Green's discussion of several anecdotes marking the tension over this shift is engaging, making a strong case for the inferential evidence of "folklaw."
If I had any critique over the text, it would be the application of the Nigerian novels as a model to consider the above mentioned tension. While this makes for a rather interesting comparison, at times it seems like the comparison is difficult to make and potentially problematic. I enjoy it thoroughly as a thought exercise, it can at times slightly distract from the main thrust of a chapter. That said, these sections do certainly fit thematically in each chapter, making for strong food for thought.
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