UPSC Books
According to me as well as several toppers of previous IAS exams, the best way to start your UPSC preparation is by reading through the NCERT books for UPSC and then moving on to the standard UPSC book list (consisting of the standard books).
Also, you should be mindful about the type of IAS books that you choose for your preparation, given that the UPSC prelims and UPSC mains are very different from each other and would need 2 different sets of reading material for each.
The UPSC Prelims, being an entirely objective type of paper would need a separate set of book lists and the UPSC Mains, being entirely subjective in its nature would need its own.
Best UPSC Books for IAS Prelims
In the IAS prelims round there are 2 papers and both are objective type in nature. That means both have multiple-type questions with negative markings for each wrong answer.
I have already mentioned the NCERT books for UPSC that you’d need to go through for the prelims in the section above. However, below I have given the list of the best IAS books for the Prelims round (apart from the NCERTs):
| Subject | UPSC Books |
|---|---|
| History | 1. India’s Struggle for Independence – Bipan Chandra 2. Facets of Indian Culture – Spectrum |
| Geography | 1. Certificate Physical Geography – G C Leong 2. World Atlas |
| Indian Polity | 1. Indian Polity – M Laxmikanth |
| Economics | 1. Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh 2. Economic Development and Policies in India: Jain & Ohri |
| International Relations | 1. Current Affairs |
| CSAT | 1. Tata McGraw Hill CSAT Manual 2. CSAT II – Arihant 3. Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning: R S Aggarwal |
Best UPSC Books for IAS Mains
If you are able to clear the Prelims stage of the IAS exam, then you’d have to appear for the Mains. In the IAS Mains, there are 9 subjective type papers out of which 2 are subjects that you can choose from.
So, accordingly, I have mentioned down below a list of the best books for your preparation for the Mains round of the IAS (apart from the NCERTs):
| Subject | UPSC Books |
|---|---|
| History, Indian Heritage & Culture [GS Paper 1] | • Bipan Chadra’s India’s Struggle for Independence • Bipan Chandra’s India after Independence • Satish Chandra’s History of Medieval India • RS Sharma’s Ancient India |
| Geography [GS Paper 1] | • Majid Husain’s Geography of India • Majid Husain’s World Geography • World Atlas • GC Leong’s Certificate Physical and Human Geography |
| Polity & International Relations [GS Paper 2] | • M. Laxmikanth’s Indian Polity • DD Basu’s Introduction to the Constitution of India • Rajiv Sikri’s India’s Foreign Policy |
| Economy [GS Paper 3] | • Ramesh Singh’s Indian Economy |
| Ethics [GS Paper 4] | • Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude for Civil Services Main Examination by Subba Rao and P.N. Roy Chaudary |
These are all the list of books that I have for you as far as the Prelims and the Mains rounds of the UPSC are concerned.
However, there are 2 optional subject papers in the Mains exam that would require you to read from the books pertaining to the particular subjects of your choice.
https://www.anujjindal.in/upsc-books-and-mock-tests-for-ias-exam/