This work investigates whether the fall of Acre in 1291 truly signaled the end of the crusading ideal or if the recovery of the Holy Land remained a central pillar of European political strategy. Sylvia Schein, a noted scholar of medieval history, utilizes extensive archival research and papal records to challenge the traditional historiographical divide between the classical crusading era and the late Middle Ages. She argues that the crusade remained a potent, active force in the policy-making of Western rulers and the papacy well into the fourteenth century.

Historians recognize this text as a significant revisionist study that successfully complicates the narrative of the crusades' decline. Scholars frequently cite the book for its meticulous use of primary sources and its ability to bridge the gap between religious ideology and pragmatic statecraft.