Margaret Oliphant viewed Jerusalem as the center of Western culture. "The story of Jerusalem is one of the most wonderful in the world, besides being of unparalleled importance to the human race. And when we descend the course of the ages and come to a still more glorious and wonderful history, it is Jerusalem still which is the scene both of tragedy and triumph, of the greatest and most wonderful life which was ever lived among men," she wrote.

In her examination of the city, she focuses on its people and rich history. She recounts the stories of David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Jesus. This book "is addressed only to those for whom the soil of Palestine, so fondly and so long known as the Holy Land, is peopled with the known and loved, the poets and sages and kings with whom we are familiar as with the records of our own lives."