The UPSC Syllabus for Civil Services Prelims and Mains examination is comprehensive and requires a lot of information sources to adequately address the challenges of the UPSC question paper. Here, we are giving the list of books for IAS Examination.
NCERT Textbooks:
1. NCERT Text Books from Class 6 – 12th. NCERTs (also OLD NCERTs) are the first step
towards IAS preparation. Download them for free here.
2. Or check our free NCERT notes section.
Indian History and Culture:
1. India’s Ancient Past – R.S. Sharma.
2. History Of Medieval India – Satish Chandra
3. History Of Modern India – Bipan Chandra.
4. India’s Struggle For Independence – Bipan Chandra. (For Mains only)
5. The Wonder That Was India – A.L. Bhasham (Ancient India and Culture)
6. Indian Art and Culture – Nitin Singhania. (For Prelims – Culture)
7. A Brief History of Modern India – Spectrum (For Prelims)
Indian Geography and World Geography:
1. Oxford School Atlas or any good quality Atlas
2. Geography of India – Majid Husain.
3. World Geography – Majid Husain
4. Certificate Physical and Human Geography – Goh Cheng Leong. (Physical and Human
Geography)
Indian Polity and Constitution:
1. Indian Polity for Civil Services Examinations – M. Laxmikanth. (ESSENTIAL FOR UPSC)
2. Introduction to the Constitution of India – D. D. Basu (only for Mains)
Indian Economy:
1. Indian Economy – Ramesh Singh.
2. Often questions on Indian Economy are linked with Current Affairs; more on Current Affairs prep later
Science and Technology:
1. Science and Technology in India – Ravi P Agrahari.
2. Read NCERTs for S&T topics selectively and follow Current Affairs
Environment – Ecology, Biodiversity and Climate Change:
1. Environment for Civil Services Prelims and Mains – Khuller.
Current Affairs:
1. India Year Book
2. Yojana Magazine
3. Kurukshetra Magazine
4. Economic and Political Weekly
5. Science Reporter
6. The Hindu/ The Indian Express
7. RSTV
8. Press Information Bureau
CSAT:
1. Analytical Reasoning – M. K. Pandey
2. Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning – R. S.Aggarwal
Other important reference books:
1. Essays for Civil Services – Pulkit Khare
2. India After Gandhi – Ramchandra Guha
3. Mastering Modern World History – Norman Lowe
4. Social Problems In India – Ram Ahuja.
5. Governance in India – Laxmikanth.
6. India and the World by Surendra Kumar.
7. Challenges to Internal Security of India – Ashok Kumar.
8. Lexicon for Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude – Niraj Kumar.
