Preparing for the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination demands both clarity of concepts and consistent practice. With the vast syllabus and increasing competition, choosing the right books is half the battle won. Below is a carefully selected list of standard books for each subject, as recommended by toppers and experts.
✅ General Studies Paper - I
📰 Current events of national and international importance:
📰 The Hindu or The Indian Express (Daily)
🧠 Yojana, Kurukshetra (Selective Reading)
🧾 Monthly Current Affairs Magazines (Vision IAS, Insights, etc.)
🏛 History of India and Indian National Movement:
🏛 Ancient & Medieval History: Old NCERTs by R.S. Sharma and Satish Chandra
🏛 Modern History: "A Brief History of Modern India" by Spectrum (Rajiv Ahir)
🏛 "India’s Struggle for Independence" by Bipan Chandra
🏛 NCERT Class XII - Themes in Indian History-I, II and III books🗺 Indian and World Geography - Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World:
🗺 Certificate Physical and Human Geography by Goh Cheng Leong
🗺 NCERTs (Class 6–12)
📜 Indian Polity and Governance - Constitution, Political System, Panchayat Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc:
🏗 Indian Polity by Laxmikanth. (Latest edition)
🏗 NCERT Political Science (Class 9–12)💹 Economic and Social Development Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector initiatives, etc:
💹 "Indian Economy" by Ramesh Singh
💹 NCERT Economics (Class 11–12)
💹 Economic Survey and Budget Summary (latest)🌿 General issues on Environmental Ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change - that do not require subject specialization:
🌿Environment" by Shankar IAS Academy
🌿NCERT Biology (Class 12, selective chapters)
🌿Current Affairs on environment (e.g., Down to Earth, PIB)
🌿NIOS Material Sr.Secondary Science- Environmental Science
🌿Shankar IAS Environment book
🔬Science & Technology & General Science:
🔬NCERT Science (Class 6–10)
Apart from these,
You should Practice Previous Papers book (anyone) to understand the pattern of the question. Or else download our app for 20years Civil services previous papers
For review, You can read Lucent or Arihant General Studies books
Important links:
- UPSC Civil Services Prelims - Syllabus - View now
- UPSC Civil Services Mains - Syllabus - View now
- UPSC Civil Services Prelims - Recommended Books - View now
- UPSC Civil Services Mains - Recommended Books - View now
- UPSC Civil Service Previous Year Question Papers - View now
✅ CSAT (General Studies Paper - II)
As you are aware of that, this paper is only qualifying nature i.e., you have to get 33% of total marks. No need any special books for this paper if you have some basic knowledge in Quantitative aptitude and English. Even though you might practice below two books if you don’t have confidence on this Paper.
🧩 Comprehension & Logical Reasoning:
🧩 "Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning" by R.S. Aggarwal
➗ Quantitative Aptitude & Data Interpretation:
➗ "Quantitative Aptitude" by R.S. Aggarwal
✅ Tips for Book selection
📌 Stick to limited, reliable sources and revise them multiple times.
📎 Solve past 10 years’ Prelims papers to understand question trends.
🗓 Use monthly current affairs compilations to keep updated.
🧪 Complement static books with online test series and mock tests.
0 Comments