Artist Phyllis Ginger's (1907-2005) first ambition was to become an illustrator and she was a prolific book illustrator and designer of book covers and pictorial advertisements. However, this book cover reflects work for which she is better known, her topographical watercolour landscapes for the 'Recording Britain' project. Begun in 1939, the project's purpose was to recording aspects of British landscape that might be destroyed and lost under enemy bombing. It was Ginger's skill as a topographical artist that led to her first commission as an artist, a watercolour of Chelsea Bridge, which was presented as a gift to the Canadian Prime Minister when he officially opened it in 1937. Ginger was also given permission to sketch the bombed streets of London.