Best Books for UPSC IAS Prelims & Mains

Civil Service is one of the most difficult competitive examinations in India. Therefore, you will need to dedicate yourself to studying to achieve your goals. Preparing for the Civil Service Examination is a tough task. You have to read, analyze and understand the current affairs, NCERT textbooks, and books related to the UPSC syllabus.

The main issue UPSC aspirants face is that there are a lot of books available in the market for UPSC civil service prelims & mains exam preparation. Most of the students are confused regarding where to start and which is the right book for UPSC preparation. Let’s just make it easy for you. Here is the subject-wise UPSC book list for preparing for Civil Service Prelims & Mains.

UPSC Books for History, Art & Culture

These books are extremely helpful to cover the syllabus of Indian history, Heritage, Art and Culture for the UPSC prelims exam and also the General Studies Paper I.

NCERT 6-12 History Textbook
A Brief History of Modern India by Spectrum Publications
India’s Struggle for Independence – Bipan Chandra (for extra reading)
Indian Art & Culture by Nitin Singhania
NCERT Class 11 Introduction to Fine Arts

Read Full GS Notes

UPSC Books for Economics

To cover the syllabus of Economics, most UPSC toppers recommend Indian Economy either by Sankar Ganesh or Ramesh Singh. NCERT books and Economic survey of the respective year helps you to understand Indian economics better and mobilization of resources, growth, development, and important policies and their effects on the growth and development of the country.

Indian Economy by Sankar Ganesh
NCERT Class 11: Macro Economics
Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh
Economic Survey of India Document of respective Year

UPSC books for Geography

Certificate Physical & Human Geography by GC Leong is one of the most recommended books for studying geography for UPSC prelims and Mains optional. To focus more on Indian geography, you can use NCERT Class 6-12 Geography textbooks. For extra reference, you can also use

NCERT Class 6-12 Geography textbooks
Certificate Physical & Human Geography by GC Leong
Geography of India by Majid Husain

UPSC Books for Indian Polity & Governance

Indian Polity is the most popular book on Indian Polity. However, it is recommended that you finish your NCERT textbooks first before starting Indian Polity.

Indian Polity by Laxmikant
NCERT Class 9: Democratic Politics 1
NCERT Class 10 Democratic Politics 2
NCERT Class 11: Constitution at Work
NCERT Class 11: Political Theory

UPSC Books for Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude

This is the most recommended book that helps the UPSC aspirants to understand the issues relating to integrity, ethics and its importance in the life of a civil servant.

A Practical Approach to Ethics Integrity and Aptitude by DK BALAJI IAS

Civils360’s Social Justice & Internal Security

Social Justice & Internal Security’ is a complete self-study guide designed for UPSC aspirants. The book covers the latest syllabus for the second and third General studies papers (GS Paper II – Social Justice and GS Paper III – Internal Security). This book will help UPSC aspirants cover the major topics for UPSC mains GS II and III exams.

Civils360’s International Relations

This book contains carefully curated notes aimed to help the UPSC aspirants prepare for the Civil Service exam. It is a must recommended book that covers the entire syllabus of GS Paper-II.

It is always better to start your UPSC preparation with the NCERT textbooks. Other than this book list, you can use a standard newspaper like The Hindu for a daily dose of current affairs. Magazines like Yojana, the Economic and Political Weekly, Down To Earth cover various topics relevant to UPSC exams like politics, economics, sociology, culture, environment, government schemes, policies, etc. To know more about Civil service exam preparation and a detailed book list, please contact us or fill the form below.