Must Have Books for IAS Preparation
We have Picked Some Must Have Books for IAS Preparation according to their Category.
As most of the books are available in PDF format and available in this link Click to Download.
Following links are for people who can’t read through eBooks only and for reading PDF you should have a Tablet or a laptop for avoiding Eye strain.
HISTORY
| Book Name | Author Name |
| India’s Ancient Past | R.S. Sharma [MUST READ] |
| History Of Medieval India | Satish Chandra [MUST READ] |
| India’s Struggle For Independence | Bipan Chandra [MUST READ] |
| History Of Modern India | Bipan Chandra [MUST READ] |
| A Brief History of Modern India | Rajiv Ahir [IMPORTANT] |
GEOGRAPHY [NCERT BOOKS AND GC LEONG ARE ENOUGH]
| Book Name | Author Name |
| Indian and World Geography for Civil Services | D.R. Khullar [Not Important] |
| Geography of India | Majid Husain [Not Important] |
| Orient Blackswan School Atlas | Orient Black Swan [IMPORTANT] |
| Certificate Physical and Human Geography | GC LEONG [MUST READ] |
| Oxford Student Atlas | Oxford [Option for Orient Atlas] |
CULTURE [NITIN SINGHANIA ENOUGH]
| Book Name | Author Name |
| Facets of Indian Culture | Spectrum [IMPORTANT] |
| The Wonder That Was India | A.L. Bhasham [Not Important] |
| Art and Culture of India | Nitin Singhania [MUST READ] |
POLITY AND ECONOMY
| Book Name | Author Name |
| Indian Polity 6th Edition | M. Laxmikanth (Polity) [MUST READ] |
| Indian Economy 12th Edition | Ramesh Singh (Economy) [MUST READ] |
| Indian Economy Key Concepts | Shankar Ganesh [IMPORTANT] |
ENVIRONMENT
| Book Name | Author Name |
| Shankar IAS Environment | Shankar IAS [MUST READ] |
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
| Book Name | Author Name |
| Science and Technology in India | Ashok Singh (TMH) |
OTHERS
| Book Name | Author / Category |
| General Studies: Paper I (2020) | TMH (GS – Paper 1) |
| General Studies: Paper II (2020) | TMH (CSAT – Paper 2) |
| Analytical Reasoning | M. K. Pandey (CSAT – Paper 2: Analytical Reasoning) |
| Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning | R.S. Agarwal (CSAT Paper 2: Reasoning). K. Pandey |
| Logical Reasoning by RS Agarwal | R.S Agarwal (CSAT – Paper 2: Logical Reasoning) |
Most Important and Additional IAS Preparation Books for UPSC Mains (Click to Buy Online)
| Contemporary Essays by Ramesh Singh | (Essay Paper) [NOT IMPORTANT] |
| 151 ESSAYS For UPSC Mains | (Essay Paper) [MUST READ] |
| A Compendium of Essays | (Essay Paper) [NOT IMPORTANT] |
IAS Preparation Books FOR GENERAL STUDIES PAPER 1
| Book Name | Author Name |
| Norman Lowe World History of Modern World | Jain and Mathur (World History – GS1) |
| Social Problems In India | Ram Ahuja. (Indian Society – GS1) |
| India After Gandhi | Ramachandra Guha (History – GS1) |
| From Plassey to the Partition | Sekhar-Bandyopadhyay (History – GS1) |
IAS Preparation Books FOR GENERAL STUDIES PAPER 2
| Books Name | Category |
| India and the World | (Foreign Policy – GS2) |
| Pax Indica – Shashi Tharoor | (Foreign Policy – GS2) |
| Governance in India for CSE | (Governance – GS2) |
| IAS Mains General Studies Paper 2 | (Arihant Manual – GS2) |
IAS Preparation Books FOR GENERAL STUDIES PAPER 3
| Book Name | Category |
| Internal Security | (Internal Security – GS3) |
| Challenges to Internal Security of India | (Internal Security – GS3) |
| IAS Mains General Studies Paper 3 | GS3. (Arihant Manual – GS3) |
IAS Preparation Books FOR GENERAL STUDIES PAPER 4
| Book Name | Category |
| Lexicon Ethics | ( Ethics – GS4) |
| IAS Mains General Studies Paper 4 | ( Arihant Manual – GS4) |
IAS Preparation Books for Interview
| Book Name | Author |
| CIVIL SERVICES INTERVIEW: HOW TO EXCEL | Madhukar Bhagat |
| Interview Cracker | Neelam Soni |
Must Get UPSC IAS Practice Books available in Amazon
| 26 Years CSAT General Studies IAS Prelims Topic-wise Solved Papers (1995-2020) [MUST READ] |
| 14000+ MCQ By Manohar Pandey [Arihant Publications] [MUST READ] |
General Studies Manual (GS Manual)
GS manual should be with you when you are going to prepare for the prelims examination. Now arises the question that what is GS manual? It’s an all-in-one book for civil services prelims covering all the topics like Polity, Economy, History, Geography, Current Affairs, General Knowledge, Mental Ability, Facts, and more. One Book in hand with all the information you need is like the god on the earth for IAS examination Aspirants. Some times standard books prescribed for preparation do not have that information which GS manual have. Above that, the language and content are so easy to understand for any of the aspirants. The level set is also satisfactory.
The passed candidate suggests that one must go through the past 5 years Solved Section-wise Papers and IAS Syllabus before going to any other books. These papers will be a great boon for IAS aspirants. Valuable time and efforts are to be used in the right place so these two reference books will be best for those who start preparing for Prelims. They must be sure to get the solved section-wise questions papers and the IAS syllabus.
| Book Name | Author / Category |
| General Studies: Paper I (2020) | TMH (GS – Paper 1) |
| General Studies: Paper II (2020) | TMH (CSAT – Paper 2) |