What are the best books for UPSC Exam preparation? Which IAS books should be studied for UPSC Civil Services Examination Prelims and Mains?
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
- Indian Polity – by M. Laxmikanth
- Important Acts that Transformed India – by Alex Andrews George
- Important Judgments that Transformed India – by Alex Andrews George
2. UPSC Books for Indian History and Culture
- Indian Art and Culture – by Nitin Singhania
- Ancient and Medieval India – by Poonam Dalal Dahiya
- Modern Indian History – by Sonali Bansal and Snehil Tripathi
3. UPSC Books for Indian Geography and World Geography
- Certificate Physical And Human Geography – by Goh Cheng Leong
- Geography of India – by Majid Husain
- Oxford Student Atlas for India
4. UPSC Books for the Indian Economy
- Indian Economy – by Nitin Singhania
- Indian Economy – by Ramesh Singh
- Indian Economy Key Concepts – by Sankarganesh Karuppiah
5. UPSC Books for Science and Technology
- Science and Technology – by Ravi P. Agrahari
6. UPSC Books for Environment – Ecology, Biodiversity, and Climate Change
- Environment – by Shankar IAS
- Environment – by PMF IAS
7. UPSC Books for Current Affairs
- India 2022 Yearbook – by Rajiv Mehrishi
- The Malayala Manorama English Yearbook 2022 – by Mammen Mathew
- India 2022 – Publications Division Paperback – by Publications Division
8. UPSC Previous Year Question Papers
- 27 Years UPSC IAS/ IPS Prelims Topic-wise Solved Papers 1 & 2 (1995-2021)
9. Prelims Manual for GS (All-in-One Guide)
- General Studies Manual Paper-1 2022 Paperback – by Manohar Pandey
10. Prelims Manual for CSAT (All-in-One Guide)
- Cracking the CSAT Paper-2 – by Arihant Experts
11. IAS Books for Essay (UPSC Mains Essay Paper)
- Fundamentals of Essay and Answer Writing – by Anudeep Durishetty
- Mastering Essay and Answer Writing – by Awdesh Singh
12. IAS Books for India Since Independence (Part of UPSC Mains GS1 Paper)
- Post-Independence India: For Civil Services Examinations – by Sonali Bansal and Snehil Tripathi
- India Since Independence – by Bipan Chandra
13. IAS Books for World History (Part of UPSC Mains GS1 Paper)
- World History – by Krishna Reddy
- History of the World – by Arjun Dev
14. IAS Books for Indian Society (Part of UPSC Mains GS1 Paper)
- Indian Society: Themes and Social Issues – by Nadeem Hasnain
- Indian Society – by M Senthil Kumar
15. IAS Books for Governance (Part of UPSC Mains GS2 Paper)
- Governance in India – by M. Laxmikanth
- Governance in India – by M. Karthikeyan
16. IAS Books for Foreign Relations of India (Part of UPSC Mains GS2 Paper)
- International Relations – by Pavneet Singh
- India and the World – by Amb. Surendra Kumar
- 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)
- Challenges to Internal Security of India – by Ashok Kumar and Vipul Anekant
- Internal Security – by Rajkumar SP
18. IAS Books for Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude (UPSC Mains GS4 Paper)
- Lexicon for Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude – by Niraj Kumar
- Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude – by M. Karthikeyan
- Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude – by G Subba Rao & P N Roy Chowdhury
- Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude – by Awdesh Singh
19. Paper-wise All-in-One manuals for UPSC CSE (Mains)
- IAS Mains General Studies Manual General Studies Paper 1 – by Arihant
- IAS Mains General Studies Manual General Studies Paper 2 – by Arihant
- IAS Mains General Studies Manual General Studies Paper 3 – by Arihant
- IAS Mains General Studies Manual General Studies Paper 4 – by Arihant
20. UPSC CSE Mains Previous Year Solved Question Paper Books
- 9 Years UPSC IAS/ IPS Mains General Studies Papers 1 – 4 Year-wise Solved (2013 – 2021) – by Disha Experts
- 9 Years UPSC IAS/ IPS Mains Essay Year-wise Solved Papers (2013 – 2021) – by Disha Experts
21. Books for UPSC Interview
- How to Ace Civil Service Interviews Paperback – by Remya Roshni
- Civil Services Interview – by Madhukar Bhagat
Highly Informative Additional Reference Books for UPSC Preparation
- Ancient India: India’s Ancient Past by R.S. Sharma
- Ancient India: History of Ancient and Early Medieval India by Upinder Singh
- Ancient India: Ancient History of India by Snehil Tripathi and Sonali Bansal
- Indian Art and Culture: Indian Art, Heritage, and Culture by Pushpesh Pant
- Medieval India: History Of Medieval India by Satish Chandra
- Modern India: History Of Modern India by Bipan Chandra
- Modern India: India’s Struggle For Independence by Bipan Chandra
- Ancient India and Culture: The Wonder that was India by A.L. Bhasham
- Medieval India and Culture: The Wonder that was India by S A A Rizvi
- Modern India: A Brief History of Modern India by Rajiv Ahir
- World Geography: World Geography by Majid Husain
- Physical Geography: Physical Geography by Savindra Singh
- Human Geography: Human Geography by Majid Husain (Click to buy)
- Constitution: Introduction to the Constitution of India by D. D. Basu
- Science and Technology: Science and Technology by Sheelwant Singh
- Environment: Environmental Studies: From Crisis to Cure by Rajagopalan
- Environment: Environment by Ravi P Agrahari
- Quantitative Aptitude: Quantitative Aptitude by R. S. Aggarwal
- Reasoning: Analytical Reasoning by M. K. Pandey
- Reasoning: Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning by R. S.Aggarwal
- Essay: Essays for Civil Services by Pulkit Khare
- Post-Independence: India After Gandhi by Ramchandra Guha
- World History: Mastering Modern World History by Norman Lowe
- World History: Modern World History by Uddipan
- Indian Society: Social Problems In India by Ram Ahuja
- International Relations: Pax Indica by Shashi Tharoor
- International Relations: The India way by S. Jaishankar
- Internal Security: Internal Security by M.Karthikeyan
- Internal Security: Internal Security of India and Disaster Management by Syed Waquar Raza
- Ethics: Ethical Dilemmas of a Civil Servant by Anil Swarup