"The Heritage Guide to the Constitution"

I've got it (it was on my Christmas list) and it's excellent, but some will be disappointed that some of commentary is done by John Yoo, including the one on the power to declare war. It takes each clause of the Constitution and gives some background/commentary on it. A much better reference is The Founders Constitution published by Liberty Fund (www.libertyfund.org), a five volume over-sized thick paperback set, that takes each phrase in the Constitution, through the Bill of Rights, and gives writings from the period related to it. The Heritage Guide is excellent, though.

 

The Founders Constitution is available online:

http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/