Best Books to Prepare for UPSC Civil Services Exam

The UPSC entrance examination demands rigorous preparation and ample hard work from the aspirants. And this journey is incomplete without the best books and reference materials. In the sections below, we have listed the most important books you can refer to for the preparation of the prelims, mains, and optional subjects included in the UPSC examination. All these Best Books to Prepare UPSC explain the particular concepts and theories in detail and ensure that you are prepared to face any question asked in the paper.

Best Books to Prepare for IAS Prelims and Mains Examinations

Best Books for IAS Prelims – Section-Wise

If you are looking for the best books for the prelims examination preparation, here is a list that will prove to be helpful:

History

1. NCERT XI (Ancient & Medieval)
2. NCERT XII (Modern Indian History)
3. India’s Struggle for Independence by Bipan Chandra
4. Indian Art and Culture by Nitin Singhania

Indian Polity & Constitution

1. NCERT IX
2. NCERT X
3. NCERT XI
4. NCERT XII
5. Economic Development & Policies in India by Jain & Ohri
6. Important Acts that Transformed India by Alex Andrews George
7. Important Judgments that Transformed India by Alex Andrews George
8. Indian Polity by M Laxmikanth

Geography

1. NCERT VI to X (Old Syllabus)
2. NCERT XI, XII (New Syllabus)
3. Certificate Physical Geography by G. C. Leong
4. World Atlas (Orient Black Swan)

Economics

1. NCERT XI
2. Indian Economy by Nitin Singhania
3. Economic Development & Policies in India authored by Jain & Ohri
4. Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh
5. Indian Economy Key Concepts authored by Sankarganesh Karuppiah

Also Read: First IAS Institute Best Coaching for IAS Exam Preparation

International Relations

1. NCERT XII (Contemporary World Politics)
2. Current Affairs

Ecology, Biodiversity & Climate Change

1. Environment by PMF IAS
2. Environment by Shankar IAS

Science & Technology

1. General Science For Civil Services Preliminary Examinations authored by S. A. Majid
2. Science & Technology For Civil Services Exams by Ravi P. Agrahari
3. Science and Technology, authored by Neeraj Nachiketa

CSAT

1. Tata McGraw Hill CSAT Manual
2. Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning by R. S. Aggarwal

Current Affairs

1. Daily Newspaper Reading (Make Notes Regularly)
2. India 2022 Yearbook by Rajiv Mehrishi
3. Online Daily Current Affairs Videos

Solved Papers

1. IAS General Studies Prelims Solved Papers by Vishal Publications

Also Read: 10 Best IAS Coaching Institutes in Delhi

Best Books for IAS Mains – Section-Wise

Now, let us have a look at all the excellent books that you will need for IAS Mains preparation.

GS Paper 1

History, Indian Heritage & Culture

1. Ancient India by R.S. Sharma
2. History of Medieval India by Satish Chandra
3. India after Independence by Bipan Chandra
4. India’s Struggle for Independence by Bipan Chandra
5. Indian Art and Culture by Nitin Singhania

Geography

1. Certificate Physical and Human Geography by G. C. Leong
2. Fundamentals of Physical Geography NCERT Class 11
3. Geography of India by Majid Husain
4. World Atlas (Orient Black Swan)
5. World Geography by Majid Husain

World History

1. History of the World by Arjun Dev
2. World History by Krishna Reddy

Indian Society

1. Indian Society by M Senthil Kumar
2. Indian Society: Themes and Social Issues by Nadeem Hasnain

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GS Papers 2 – Polity and International Relations

1. Indian Polity by M. Laxmikanth
2. International Relations: Pushpesh Pant
3. Introduction to the Constitution of India by D. D. Basu

GS Paper 3 – Economy

1. Challenges to Internal Security of India by Ashok Kumar
2. Environment and Disaster Management by Tata McGraw Hill
3. Indian Economy by Nitin Singhania

Paper 4 (GS) – Ethics

1. Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude for Civil Services Main Examination by Subba Rao and P.N. Roy Chaudary

Solved Papers

1. IAS General Studies Prelims Solved Papers by Vishal Publications

Best Books for IAS Optional Subject Preparation

Optional subjects are also an integral part of the IAS entrance examination. Hence, you should refer to the best books listed below and the best study material when preparing for the subject of your choice:

Agriculture Optional

1. A Text Book of Agricultural Statistics R. Rangaswamy
2. Agronomy by Yellamanda Reddy
3. Entomology by Vasantha Raj & David
4. Fundamentals Of Agricultural Extension Education by U Barman
5. Genetics- B. D. Singh
6. Handbook Of Agriculture by ICAR
7. Introduction To Horticulture by Kumar
8. Physiology by Pandey & Singha
9. Plant Breeding by B. D. Singh
10. Soil Science by D.K. Das Or Brady
11. Special Issue of Agriculture by The Hindu
12. The Hindu – Survey Of Indian Agriculture

Anthropology Optional

1. Anthropology Theories by Makhan Jha
2. Fossil Evidence by S. Das
3. Indian Anthropology by Nadeem Hasnain
4. Physical Anthropology by P. Nath
5. Social Anthropology by D. N. Majumdar & T. N. Madan

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Biology Optional

1. Botany for Degree Students; Pteridophyta (Vascular Cryptogams) by P. C. Vashishta
2. Cell Biology- De Robertis & Ambrose and Easy or Powar
3. Cryptograms – B. R. Vasista
4. Ecology, Microbiology, Animal Behaviour, Pollution and Toxicology For B. Sc. Part III, Paper III by Dr Veer Bala Rastogi
5. Economic botany in the tropics by S. L. Kochhar
6. Elements of Genetics by Dr. Veer Bala Rastogi
7. Embryology Of Angiosperms by S. P. Bhatnagar
8. Genetics- Strickberger
9. Microbiology- Powars
10. Pathology by Singh’s book, along with a foreign author
11. Physiology and Biochemistry by Salisbury and Ross or Fritz and Noggle
12. Plant Anatomy by B. P. Pandey
13. Plant Anatomy by Esau
14. Systematic Botany by S. C. Datta
15. Taxonomy by R. Nair

Chemistry Optional

1. A Guide to Mechanism in Organic Chemistry by Peter Sykes
2. A Textbook of Environmental Chemistry and Pollution by S. S. Dara.
3. A Textbook of Organic Chemistry by Bahl & Bahl
4. A Textbook of Physical Chemistry (Vol. by IV) by K. L. Kapoor
5. Advance Physical Chemistry by Gurdeep Raj
6. Advance Physical Chemistry by Gurdeep Raj
7. Advanced Inorganic Chemistry by J. D. Lee
8. Extradition of Metals, Principle of Inorganic Chemistry by Puri, Sharma, Jauhar.
9. Organic Chemistry Reactions and Reagents by O. P. Agarwal
10. Principle of physical chemistry by Puri, Sharma & Pathway
11. Principles of Physical Chemistry by Puri, Sharma & Pathway

Economics Optional

1. Banking by S. B. Gupta
2. Dictionary of Economics by Graham Bannock; T. E. Baxter, Ray Rees
3. Economic Growth and Development by Mayer and Baldwin
4. Economic Survey: Twelve Five Year Plan: New Industrial Policy by Government of India
5. Economical and Political Weekly
6. Economics by Paul A. Samuelson
7. Economics Choice by Koutsweanik
8. Growth and Development by M. L. Jhingan
9. Indian Economy by Mishra and Puri
10. Indian Economy by R. Dutt and KPM Sundaram
11. Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh
12. International Economics by Bo Soderston
13. International Economics by H. G. Mannur or Salvatore
14. International Trade by Bo Soderston
15. Macroeconomic Analysis by Edward Shapiro
16. Modern Banking by R. S. Sayers
17. Monetary Theory and Public Policy by Kenneth Kurihara
18. Money Supply in India: Concepts, Compilation and Analysis: Functions and Working by Reserve Bank of India
19. National Income Accounting by Neethu
20. Outline of Monetary Economics by A. C. I. Day
21. Public Finance by H. L. Bhatia
22. Public Finance by K. K. Andley and Sundharam
23. The Economic Times
24. The Indian Economy by Sanjiv Verma

History Optional

1. Ancient India by Upinder Singh         
2. History of India (Volume-I) by Romila Thapar
3. Ancient India (NCERT) by Prof. R. S. Sharma         
4. The Wonder That Was India by A. L. Basham
5. The Mughal Empire by J. F. Richards
6. Medieval India (Macmillan) by Satish Chandra
7. A History of South India by K. A. Nilkantha Sastri
8. Indian Feudalism by R. S. Sharma
9. The Raj Syndrome (Penguins) by Suhash Chakravarty
10. Freedom Struggle (NbT) by Bipan Chandra & Others
11. Europe Since 1870 by James Joll
12. Contemporary World History (NCERT) by Arjun Dev

Mathematics Optional

1. Algebra by K. C. Prasad, K. B. Datta
2. Analytic Geometry by Shanti Narayan, D. K. Jha, H. C. Sinha and Sharma
3. Complex Analysis by G. K. Ranganath
4. Differential Calculus by Shanti Narayan, P. K. Mittal
5. Differential equations:- Golden series by N. P. Bali
6. Dynamics, Statics and Hydrostatics by M. Ray
7. Introductory Methods of Numerical Analysis by S. S. Sastry
8. Linear Algebra by K.C. Prasad, K. B. Datta
9. Linear Programming & Theory of Games by S. D. Sharma
10. Mechanics & Fluid Dynamics by Azaroff Leonid, A. P. Mathur
11. Ordinary & Partial Differential Equation by M. D. Raisinghania
12. Real Analysis by H. L. Royden
13. Vector Analysis by Shanti Narayan, P. K. Mittal

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Electrical Engineering Optional

1. Automatic Control System by Benjamin C. Kuo
2. Circuit Analysis by Gupta Electrical Technology by Thareja
3. Circuit Theory: Analysis and Synthesis by A. Chakrabarti
4. Control Systems Engineering by Nagrath Gopal
5. Electromagnetic Fields & Waves by K. D. Prasad
6. Elements of Engineering Electromagnetics by Nannapaneni Rao
7. Energy Conversion by Ashfaq Hussain
8. Integrated Circuits by D. Roy Choudhary
9. Modern Central Engineering by Katsuhiko Ogata
10. Network Analysis by Valkenburg
11. Signals and Systems by Alan V. Oppenheim, Alan V. Willsky, S. Hamid Nawab
12. Topics in Communication Theory by David Middleton

Physics Optional

1. A Textbook of Sound by Khanna & Bedi
2. Fundamental Books on Electrical Engineering like B. L Theraja (Vol 1) or Vincent Del Toro
3. Concept of Modern Physics by Arthur Beiser
4. Electricity & Magnetism by D. C. TAyal, B. S. Agarwal, Griffith
5. Electronics by Millman & Halkias, S. Ramnam, Ryder or Bolstead, Malvina
6. EM Theory by Chopra & Agarwal/Satya Prakash
7. Fundamental of Magnetism Electricity by D. N. Vasudeva
8. Nuclear Physics by S. B. Patel
9. Optics by Brijlal & Subramanyam, B. S. Agarwal, Ajoy & Ghatak
10. Physics Vol I&II by David Halliday and Resnick
11. Quantum Mechanics by A. Ghatak
12. Quantum Physics by Resnick & Eisberg
13. Statistical Physics by B. B. laud
14. University Physics by Zemansky

Psychology Optional

1. Introduction to Psychology by Morgan & King
2. Psychology by Ciccarelli
3. Psychology XI & XII Std NCERT
4. Social Psychology by Baron & Byrne
5. Statistics for Psychology by Aron, Aron, Coups
6. Systems & Theories of Psychology by Krawiec & Chaplin
7. Theories of Personality by Hall & Lindzey

Public Administration Optional

1. Administrative Thinkers by Prasad and Prasad
2. Essentials Of Organizational Behaviour 10th Edition by Robbins, Sanghi and Judge
3. Indian Public Administration by Arora and Goyal
4. New Horizons of Public Administration by Mohit Bhattacharya
5. Public Administration by Fadia and Fadia
6. Public Administration and Public Affairs 12th Edition by Nicholas Henry
7. Public Administration In India by B. L. Fadia

Statistics Optional

1. Fundamentals of Applied Statistics by S. C. Gupta and V. K. Kapoor
2. Fundamentals of Mathematical Statistics by A. C. Gupta and V. K. Kapoor
3. Fundamentals of Statistics (2 Vol.) by A. M. Goon, M. K. Gupta and B. Dass Gupta
4. Introductory Probability and Statistical Applications by Paul Meyer
5. Sampling Techniques by William G. Cochran

Note: There are numerous other optional subjects in the IAS entrance examination. We have listed only the ones that are very popular among the audience.

Conclusion on List of Best Books for UPSC

Those are the top books for UPSC aspirants that are recommended by toppers and experts. If you want to crack this competitive entrance test, ensure you have the best study material handy and use an effective preparation strategy.

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