Europe and the Near East: The Presence and Absence of Metals queries the assumption of the earlier advantage of the West in attaining industrialization. Professor Goody contends that the Near East (an area which includes the Middle East) started what archaeologists call civilization with the Bronze Age, developing its own renaissance and extension of trade influencing Europe. However, it was always handicapped by the absence of iron and coal. And it was the plentiful exploitation of these in Britain, with the help of German metallurgists, that made way for the industrial revolution in Europe, rather than any Protestant ethic which represents a Europeanist point of view.