Civil Service aspirants start their preparation with NCERT Textbooks (Class 6-12).

Once aspirants get a basic idea from NCERT Textbooks, they should focus more on the Standard Textbooks.

Recommended NCERT Textbooks for UPSC Preparation

(Class 6-12)

It is ideal for all IAS aspirants to start with NCERT books from Class 6 to Class 12.

Recommended Standard Textbooks for UPSC Preparation

UPSC aspirants are recommended to buy at least 1 Standard Book for each subject (topic) and later expand their reading to additional reference books.

1. UPSC Books for Indian Polity and Constitution

1. Indian Polity – by M. Laxmikanth
2. Important Acts that Transformed India – by Alex Andrews George
3. Important Judgments that Transformed India – by Alex Andrews George

2. UPSC Books for Indian History and Culture

1. Indian Art and Culture – by Nitin Singhania
2. Ancient and Medieval India – by Poonam Dalal Dahiya
3. Modern Indian History – by Sonali Bansal and Snehil Tripathi

3. UPSC Books for Indian Geography and World Geography

1. Certificate Physical And Human Geography – by Goh Cheng Leong
2. Geography of India – by Majid Husain
3. Oxford Student Atlas for India

4. UPSC Books for the Indian Economy

1. Indian Economy – by Nitin Singhania
2. Indian Economy – by Ramesh Singh
3. Indian Economy Key Concepts – by Sankarganesh Karuppiah

5. UPSC Books for Science and Technology

1. Science and Technology – by Ravi P. Agrahari

6. UPSC Books for Environment – Ecology, Biodiversity, and Climate Change

1. Environment – by Shankar IAS
2. Environment – by PMF IAS

7. UPSC Books for Current Affairs

1. India 2022 Yearbook – by Rajiv Mehrishi
2. The Malayala Manorama English Yearbook 2022  –  by Mammen Mathew
3. India 2022 – Publications Division Paperback – by Publications Division

8. UPSC Previous Year Question Papers

1. 27 Years UPSC IAS/ IPS Prelims Topic-wise Solved Papers 1 & 2 (1995-2021)

9. Prelims Manual for GS (All-in-One Guide)

1. General Studies Manual Paper-1 2022 Paperback – by Manohar Pandey

10. Prelims Manual for CSAT (All-in-One Guide)

1. Cracking the CSAT Paper-2 – by Arihant Experts

11. IAS Books for Essay (UPSC Mains Essay Paper)

1. Fundamentals of Essay and Answer Writing – by Anudeep Durishetty
2. Mastering Essay and Answer Writing – by Awdesh Singh

12. IAS Books for India Since Independence (Part of UPSC Mains GS1 Paper)

1. Post-Independence India: For Civil Services Examinations – by Sonali Bansal and Snehil Tripathi
2. India Since Independence – by Bipan Chandra

13. IAS Books for World History (Part of UPSC Mains GS1 Paper)

1. World History – by Krishna Reddy
2. History of the World – by Arjun Dev

14. IAS Books for Indian Society (Part of UPSC Mains GS1 Paper)

1. Indian Society: Themes and Social Issues – by Nadeem Hasnain
2. Indian Society – by M Senthil Kumar

15. IAS Books for Governance (Part of UPSC Mains GS2 Paper)

1. Governance in India – by M. Laxmikanth
2. Governance in India – by M. Karthikeyan

16. IAS Books for Foreign Relations of India (Part of UPSC Mains GS2 Paper)

1. International Relations – by Pavneet Singh
2. India and the World – by Amb. Surendra Kumar
3. India’s Foreign Policy in the Post-Covid World – by Amb. Surendra Kumar

17. IAS Books for Internal Security (Part of UPSC Mains GS3 Paper)

1. Challenges to Internal Security of India – by Ashok Kumar and Vipul Anekant
2. Internal Security – by Rajkumar SP

18. IAS Books for Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude (UPSC Mains GS4 Paper)

1. Lexicon for Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude – by Niraj Kumar
2. Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude – by M. Karthikeyan
3. Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude – by G Subba Rao & P N Roy Chowdhury
4. Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude – by Awdesh Singh

19. Paper-wise All-in-One manuals for UPSC CSE (Mains)

1. IAS Mains General Studies Manual General Studies Paper 1 – by Arihant
2. IAS Mains General Studies Manual General Studies Paper 2 – by Arihant
3. IAS Mains General Studies Manual General Studies Paper 3 – by Arihant
4. IAS Mains General Studies Manual General Studies Paper 4 – by Arihant

20. UPSC CSE Mains Previous Year Solved Question Paper Books

1. 9 Years UPSC IAS/ IPS Mains General Studies Papers 1 – 4 Year-wise Solved (2013 – 2021) – by Disha Experts
2. 9 Years UPSC IAS/ IPS Mains Essay Year-wise Solved Papers (2013 – 2021) – by Disha Experts

21. Books for UPSC Interview

1. How to Ace Civil Service Interviews Paperback – by Remya Roshni
2. Civil Services Interview – by Madhukar Bhagat

Highly Informative Additional Reference Books for UPSC Preparation

1. Ancient India: India’s Ancient Past by R.S. Sharma
2. Ancient India: History of Ancient and Early Medieval India by Upinder Singh
3. Ancient India: Ancient History of India by Snehil Tripathi and Sonali Bansal
4. Indian Art and Culture: Indian Art, Heritage, and Culture by Pushpesh Pant
5. Medieval India: History Of Medieval India by Satish Chandra
6. Modern India: History Of Modern India by Bipan Chandra
7. Modern India: India’s Struggle For Independence by Bipan Chandra
8. Ancient India and Culture: The Wonder that was India by A.L. Bhasham
9. Medieval India and Culture: The Wonder that was India by S A A Rizvi
10. Modern India: A Brief History of Modern India by Rajiv Ahir
11. World Geography: World Geography by Majid Husain
12. Physical Geography: Physical Geography by Savindra Singh
13. Human Geography: Human Geography by Majid Husain (Click to buy)
14. Constitution: Introduction to the Constitution of India by D. D. Basu
15. Science and Technology: Science and Technology by Sheelwant Singh
16. Environment: Environmental Studies: From Crisis to Cure by Rajagopalan
17. Environment: Environment by Ravi P Agrahari
18. Quantitative Aptitude: Quantitative Aptitude by R. S. Aggarwal
19. Reasoning: Analytical Reasoning by M. K. Pandey
20. Reasoning: Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning by R. S.Aggarwal
21. Essay: Essays for Civil Services by Pulkit Khare
22. Post-Independence: India After Gandhi by Ramchandra Guha
23. World History: Mastering Modern World History by Norman Lowe
24. World History: Modern World History by Uddipan
25. Indian Society: Social Problems In India by Ram Ahuja
26. International Relations: Pax Indica by Shashi Tharoor
27. International Relations: The India way by S. Jaishankar
28. Internal Security: Internal Security by M.Karthikeyan
29. Internal Security: Internal Security of India and Disaster Management by Syed Waquar Raza
30. Ethics: Ethical Dilemmas of a Civil Servant by Anil Swarup