We the People

A History of the U.S. Constitution

by Jill Lepore

Winner of the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for History. Published for the 250th anniversary of American independence, Jill Lepore's history of the US Constitution explains why it is so hard to amend: only 27 amendments have been ratified, and none of real weight since 1971. Drawing on the Amendments Project, a database she built, Lepore tells the story of the mostly ordinary Americans who tried to change the Constitution, nearly all of whom failed.