'Dikötter's account of the growth of modern consumption in China is vivid, lively and compelling. His descriptions evoke the noise and bustle of Chinese markets and the eye-catching colour of their goods. ... Things Modern is beautifully produced on heavy paper with wide margins' - Delia Davin, Times Literary Supplement

'Engagingly written, insightful, and complemented with nearly 100 illustrations... Highly recommended.' - Choice

'Once again Frank Dikötter has proved himself a pioneer in his field.' - Bradley Winterton, Taipei Times

'Frank Dikötter always has something stimulating to say. Readable, substantive and rich... this is a book that can be read with pleasure by anyone interested in modern China.' - Susan Naquin, China Quarterly

'Frank Dikötter's publication, in its rich telling of the whole caboodle of the everyday and the luxurious, gives us a template for thinking about objects as markers and agents of change in a modernising world.' - Verity Wilson, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society

' Frank Dikötter's latest book is a boon to scholars working in the field of modern Chinese material culture, and it will be of interest to all those who delight in seeing the quotidian made fascinating. As we have come to expect from Dikötter, the sweep of his survey and the catalogue of sources consulted are extraordinary. The result is fundamentally very effective.' - Joshua Goldstein, Journal of Asian Studies

' '[An] important and wide-ranging book… that will surely make us rethink a good number of our deeply held assumptions (like the view, most recently articulated by anthropologist Marshall Sahlins, that sees modem consumerism as inherently tied to presuppositions about the person of Western, Judeo-Christian cultural origin) regarding the rise of the "consumer society".' - Omar Lizardo, American Journal of Sociology

'This book is a refreshing and beautifully illustrated look at the culture of material objects in late imperial and early modern China. The focus is on the things themselves (modern things), and secondarily on people's reflections on things and the way they were incorporated into everyday life. Some of these stories are quite simply stunning... a very approachable and stimulating book.' - David Holm, China Journal

 'Rich and convincing... Exotic Commodities pushes readers to consider globalization in an historical context, and to contemplate the various ways in which material culture is transferred - and transformed - as it moves from one region to another. - Maura Elizabeth Cunningham, World History Connected