Linda Monk: Constitution Lady

The Words We Live By

Your Annotated Guide to the Constitution

With more than 150,000 copies sold and now updated, The Words We Live By: Your Annotated Guide to the Constitution is still the best way to learn about America’s founding document. Featuring a line-by-line analysis of the Constitution, The Words We Live By includes historical profiles of the people who have shaped the Constitution. It also offers a balanced perspective on today’s hot-button issues—including debates about immigration, the right to bear arms, same-sex marriage, and affirmative action. Learn more…

“A wonderfully accessible yet deeply insightful guide to our Constitution which should be read and enjoyed by a wide audience.”

Doris Kearns Goodwin Pulitzer Prize-winning historian
“I have never before seen so clear an explanation of what’s in the Constitution and why. Monk has provided a service to the nation that should earn her a Presidential Medal of Freedom.”

Nat Hentoff Pulitzer Prize finalist and Senior Fellow, Cato Institute
“When I covered federal courts in Washington at the foot of Capitol Hill, I read The Words We Live By all the time. When I stopped covering the courts, I still read it all the time. Smart, informed, witty—just the way everyone wants to sound when discussing the Constitution.”

Neely Tucker Staff writer, Washington Post
“A book for ‘We the People’ of all ages—wonderfully simple, but never simplistic, brimming with profound and provocative ideas.”

Akhil Reed Amar Sterling Professor of Law, Yale Law School
“Finally a book that presents all sides of constitutional issues.”

Linda Chavez Chairman of the Center for Equal Opportunity and FOX News Channel Contributor

About the Author

Linda Monk Linda R. Monk, J.D., is a constitutional scholar, journalist, and nationally award-winning author, whose passion is the U.S. Constitution and the American story. Her trademark is using an accessible, narrative style to explore deep truths about our constitutional democracy. A graduate of Harvard Law School, she conveys this depth of knowledge in a manner that is relevant to everyday citizens. As a result, she twice won the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award, its highest honor for public education about the law. Her work has been featured on PBS, Voice of America, MSNBC, C-SPAN, and NPR, and she writes commentary for newspapers nationwide. She also presents seminars and lectures for a variety of audiences—including the Pentagon, National Archives, Fulbright Scholars, Smithsonian, George Washington’s Mount Vernon, and National History Day. Learn more…

Speaking & Consultation

Linda is available to speak to your group or consult with your company on legal and historical topics.

Contact Her to Learn More

In The News

Exciting, Illuminating Book The Words We Live By Makes the Constitution Come Alive
By Nat Hentoff

Monk subtitled her book “Your Annotated Guide to the Constitution,” but it is actually a swinging adventure story of how Americans came to define themselves as a nation through the struggle to keep the Constitution functioning as the guarantor of our most fundamental liberties.

Without exaggeration, I am convinced that this book should be taught in every classroom, and be on every citizen’s reading list as an essential reference manual for evaluating candidates in the upcoming 2016 elections. Read more…