Reading progress update: I've read 41 out of 456 pages.
Though I'm only a couple of chapters in, this is already proving to be a frustrating book. Sargent has a provocative argument and he makes a lot of good points, yet I keep thinking as I read it, "Well, what if we look at it this way instead?" and his thesis degenerates into smug hindsight. It doesn't help that he's sloppy with some of his details, either, though I can't tell if the fault there is with his knowledge or his writing.