UPSC Books - Best books for UPSC Civil Services Examination 2024
October 13, 2023
10 Minutes
Embarking on the journey to crack the UPSC Civil Services Examination requires a meticulous preparation strategy. A pivotal aspect of this strategy is selecting the right books that cover the expansive syllabus comprehensively while also providing insightful analysis to aid understanding. This article presents an extensive list of recommended books for both the Prelims and Mains examinations, spanning across General Studies papers and a diverse range of optional subjects. As you steer through the preparation path for the UPSC Civil Services Examination 2024, this curated list aims to serve as a reliable resource, facilitating a structured and effective study approach.
UPSC Books for Prelims
The UPSC Civil Services journey begins with the Preliminary Examination, which comprises two papers: General Studies Paper - I and CSAT (Civil Services Aptitude Test). Clearing this stage makes candidates eligible for the Mains Examination. The following list provides detailed book recommendations for the preparation of the UPSC Prelims Examination 2024, encompassing crucial subjects such as History, Geography, Polity, and Economics. These books, ranging from foundational NCERT textbooks to specialized ones by esteemed authors, are tailored to equip aspirants with a comprehensive understanding to excel in the Prelims.
Subject | Book | Author / Publisher |
|---|---|---|
History | India’s Struggle for Independence | Bipin Chandra |
Indian Art & Culture | Nitin Singhania | |
History of Medieval India | Satish Chandra | |
Concise History of Modern India | Sujata Menon | |
NCERT 11th Ancient and Medieval | NCERT | |
NCERT 12th Modern Indian History | NCERT | |
Geography | World Atlas | Orient Black Swan |
Certificate Physical Geography | G C Leong | |
NCERT VI-X Old Syllabus | NCERT | |
NCERT XI, XII New Syllabus | NCERT | |
Polity | Indian Polity | M Laxmikant |
Economic Development & Policies in India | Jain & Ohri | |
Introduction to the Constitution of India | DD Basu | |
NCERT IX-XII | NCERT | |
Economics | Indian Economy | Nitin Singhania |
Economic Development & Policies in India | Jain & Ohri | |
International Relations | NCERT XII (Contemporary World Politics) | NCERT |
Current Affairs | ||
CSAT | Tata McGraw Hill CSAT Manual | McGraw Hill |
Modern Approach to Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning | Dr. R.S. Aggarwal |
UPSC Books for Mains Examination
The candidates who qualify for the UPSC Prelims examination will be eligible for the IAS Mains examination. The Mains examination consists of 9 theory papers, out of which 2 papers are optional. The following list provides detailed book recommendations for the preparation of the UPSC Mains Examination 2024, covering both the mandatory General Studies papers and the optional subjects. The books are authored by experts, ensuring a thorough preparation for each subject as per the latest syllabus.
Mains Paper | Subject | Book | Author / Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
GS Paper 1 | History, Indian Heritage Culture | Ancient India | RS Sharma |
Indian Art and Culture | Nitin Singhania | ||
History of Medieval India | Satish Chandra | ||
India after Independence | Bipin Chandra | ||
India’s Struggle for Independence | Bipin Chandra | ||
Geography | World Geography | Majid Hussain | |
Geography of India | Majid Hussain | ||
Certificate Physical and Human Geography | GC Leong | ||
World Atlas | Orient Black Swan | ||
Fundamentals of Physical Geography NCERT Class 11 | NCERT | ||
GS Paper 2 | Polity & International Relations | Indian Polity | M. Laxmikanth |
International Relations | Pushpesh Pant | ||
Introduction to the Constitution of India | DD Basu | ||
GS Paper 3 | Economy | Indian Economy | Nitin Singhania |
Environment and Disaster Management | Tata McGraw Hill | ||
Challenges to Internal Security of India | Ashok Kumar | ||
GS Paper 4 | Ethics | Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude for Civil Services Main Examination | Subba Rao and P.N. Roy Chaudary |
UPSC Books for Mains Optional Subjects
Selecting an optional subject is a pivotal decision for UPSC aspirants as it holds substantial weightage in the Mains Examination. The optional subject choice should align with the aspirant's interest, academic background, and the scope of scoring well. Each optional subject has its set of recommended books authored by experts to provide a deep understanding of the topics covered. The following list enumerates the recommended books for various optional subjects, catering to the diverse academic backgrounds of the aspirants. These books are meticulously chosen to aid in a comprehensive preparation for excelling in the chosen optional subject in the UPSC Mains Examination 2024
Subject | Book Title | Author / Publisher |
|---|---|---|
Agriculture | Fundamentals Of Agricultural Extension Education | U Barman |
A Text Book of Agricultural Statistics | R. Rangaswamy | |
Agronomy | Yellamanda Reddy | |
Entomology | Vasantha Raj & David | |
Genetics | B.D.Singh | |
Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science | A guide on forest Entomology | Regupathy |
A Textbook Of Animal Husbandry | G C Banerjee | |
Advanced Animal Nutrition | D. V Reddy | |
Agricultural Economics | S Subba Reddy | |
Animal husbandry & veterinary science | T.N. Palanivelu | |
Anthropology | Physical Anthropology | P Nath |
Fossil Evidence | S Das | |
Social Anthropology | DN Majumdar & T N Madan | |
Indian Anthropology | Nadeem Hasnain | |
Anthropology Theories | Makhan Jha | |
Botany | Cell Biology | De Robertis & Ambrose and Easy or Powar |
Cryptograms | B.R. Vasista | |
Botany for Degree Students; Pteridophyta (Vascular Cryptogams) | P.C. Vashishta | |
Ecology, Microbiology, Animal Behaviour, Pollution and Toxicology For B. Sc. Part III, Paper III | Dr Veer Bala Rastogi | |
Economic botany in the tropics | S. L. Kochhar | |
Chemistry | A guide to mechanism in organic chemistry | Peter Sykes |
A textbook of environmental chemistry and pollution | S.S. Dara | |
A textbook of organic chemistry | Bahl & Ba | |
A textbook of physical chemistry (Vol. – IV) | K.L. Kapoor | |
Advance physical chemistry | Gurdeep Raj | |
Civil Engineering | Engineering Mechanics: Statics and Dynamics | Irving Herman Shames |
Strength of Material | Prof. S. Ramamrutham | |
Mechanics for Engineers | B Johnson | |
Structural Analysis | C. K. Wang | |
Limit state design of steel structures | S K Duggal | |
Commerce & Accountancy | Accounting Corporate Accounting | Naseem Ahmed |
Accounting Standards | D. S. Rawat | |
Auditing Students’ Guide to Auditing | Aruna Jha | |
Income Tax book | V.K. Singhania or Girish Ahuja | |
Cost Accounting; Theory & Problems | Maheshwari & Mittal | |
Economics | Indian Economy | Ramesh Singh |
The Indian Economy | Sanjiv Verma | |
Indian Economy | Mishra and Puri | |
Indian Economy | R. Dutt and KPM Sundaram | |
Banking | S.B. Gupta | |
Dictionary of Economics | Graham Bannock; T.E. Baxter, Ray Rees | |
International Trade | Bo Soderston | |
Electrical Engineering | Electromagnetic Fields & Waves | Kd Prasad |
Energy Conversion | Ashfaq Hussain | |
Circuit Theory: Analysis and Synthesis | A. Chakrabarti | |
Signals and Systems | Alan V. Oppenheim, Alan V. Willsky, S. Hamid Nawab | |
Physics of Semiconductor Devices | Simon Sze | |
Analog Electronics | J.B. Gupta | |
Digital Logic and Computer Design | M. Morris Mano | |
Principles of Electronics | V .K. Mehta | |
Geography | A Geography by Population | R.C. Chandna |
Agricultural Geography | Majid Husain | |
Climatology | D.S.Lal | |
Economic and Social Geography – Made Simple | R.Knowles & J.Wareing | |
Economic Geography | Hartshorn & Truman A | |
Geology | Advancing Frontiers in Geology and Geophysics: A Volume in Honour of M.S. Krishnan | A P Subramaniam & S. Balakrishnan |
Ananda K. Coomaraswamy Writings on Geology and Mineralogy: Scientific Papers and Comments | Ranganathan, A. & Rao, K. Srinivasa (Eds.) | |
Concise Glossary of Geology | Mathur, S.M. | |
Deccan Traverses: The Making of Bangalore’s Terrain | Mathur, Anuradha & Cunha, Dilip Da | |
Delta Sedimentation: East Coast of India | Singh, I.B. & Swamy, A.S.R. | |
Dimensions of Himalayan Geology | Biyani A.K. | |
History | A History of South India | K.A. Nilkantha Sastri |
Ancient India | Upinder Singh | |
Anatomy of the Raj (PPH) | Suhash Chakravarty | |
Age of Capital | E.J. Hobsbawm | |
The story of Civilization, Vol. 2 (NCERT) | Arjun Dev | |
Law | International Law | S. K Kapoor |
Our Constitution | Subhash C. Kashyap | |
The Constitution of India (Bare Act) | PM Bakshi | |
An Introduction to Public International Law | S. K. Verma | |
Introduction to the Constitution of India | D.D Basu | |
Constitution of India | VN Shukla | |
Management | Fundamentals of Management | DeCenzo, Agarwal, Bhattacharya and Robbins |
Marketing Management | Philip Kotler | |
Cost and Management Accounting | MN Arora | |
Organization Behaviour | Stephen Robbins | |
Financial Management | Prasanna Chandra | |
Mechanical Engineering | Thermodynamics | R Yadav |
Theory of Mechanics | S. S. Rattan | |
Heat Conversion | Arora and Kundwar | |
Heat Transfer | Gupta Prakash | |
Heat and Mass Transfer | R. Yadav | |
Theory of Mechanism and Mechanics | Jagdish Lal | |
Medical Science | Human Anatomy | B D Chaurasia |
Embryology from I B Singh | I B Singh | |
Human Physiology | Ganong; Guyton and A.K. Jain book | |
Biochemistry | U. Satyanarayana book | |
Pathology | Robbins, and Cotran | |
Philosophy | A History of Philosophy | Frank Thilly |
Survey of Indian Philosophy | C D Sharma | |
Existentialism: A Reconstruction | David Cooper | |
An Introduction to Indian Philosophy | S Chatterjee | |
A History of Philosophy | Frank Thilly | |
An Introduction to Political Theory | O P Gauba | |
Introduction to Religious Philosophy | Y Masih | |
Physics | Any fundamental book on electrical engineering | B.L Theraja (Vol 1) or Vincent Del Toro |
Classical Mechanism | Gupta, Kumar & Sharma – Takewale & Puranik -H.Goldstein | |
Electricity & Magnetism | D.C. TAyal, B.S. Agarwal, Griffith | |
Introduction of Electrodynamics | David Griffiths | |
EM Theory | Chopra&Agarwal/Satya Prakash | |
Political Science & International Relations | An Introduction To Political Theory | O.P Gauba |
Fifty Major Political Thinkers | Ian Adams And R W Dyson | |
A History Of Political Thought: Plato To Marx | Subrata Mukherjee And Sushila Ramaswamy | |
An Oxford Companion To Politics In India | niraja Gopal Jayal And Pratap Bhanu Mehta | |
Foundations Of Indian Political Thought | V.R Mehta | |
Psychology | Psychology XI & XII Std NCERT | NCERT |
Introduction to Psychology | Morgan & King | |
Systems & Theories of Psychology | Krawiec & Chaplin | |
Psychology | Morgan and King | |
Psychology | Ciccarelli | |
Public Administration | Administrative Thinkers | Prasad and Prasad |
Public Administration: Administrative Theories and Concepts | Fadia & Fadia | |
Public Administration and Public Affairs 12th Edition | Nicholas Henry | |
Mohit Bhattacharya- New horizons in Public administration | Mohit Bhattacharya | |
Mohit Bhattacharya- Pub Ad A new look | Mohit Bhattacharya | |
Sociology | Sociology | Anthony Giddens |
Sociological Theory | Ritzer George | |
Sociology | Haralambos & Holborn | |
Oxford Dictionary Of Sociology | - | |
Sociological Thought | M Francis Abraham and John Henry Morgan | |
Mechanical Engineering | Thermodynamics | R Yadav |
Theory of Mechanics | S S Rattan | |
Heat Conversion | Arora and Kundwar | |
Heat Transfer | Gupta Prakash | |
Heat and Mass Transfer | R. Yadav | |
Theory of Mechanism and Mechanics | Jagdish Lal | |
Statistics | An Introduction to Probability Theory & Mathematical Statistics | V K Rohtagi |
An Outline of Statistical Theory (2 Vol.) | A M Goon, M K Gupta and B. Dass Gupta | |
Fundamentals of Applied Statistics | S C Gupta and V K Kapoor | |
Fundamentals of Mathematical Statistics | A C Gupta and V K Kapoor | |
Fundamentals of Statistics (2 Vol.) | A M Goon, M K Gupta and B Dass Gupta | |
Zoology | Modern Zoology | Ramesh Gupta |
Organic Evolution (Evolutionary Biology) | Veer Bala Rastogi | |
Ganong’s Review of Medical Physiology | - | |
Guyton and Hall Textbook of Medical Physiology | - | |
Cell Biology | CB Powar |
Conclusion
The journey of UPSC preparation extends beyond textbooks and encompasses a daily engagement with current affairs. It is imperative to stay updated with the happenings around the globe and particularly within our country. A well-rounded awareness not only enriches your answers in the examination but also broadens your perspective, which is essential for a prospective civil servant. The perceived toughness of the examination stems more from a lack of preparation than the nature of the examination itself. Remember, the exam is only as tough as we make it. Hence, along with rigorous reading, maintaining a curious mind tuned to current events is key to cracking the UPSC Civil Services Examination.
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Table of Content
UPSC Books for Prelims
UPSC Books for Mains Examination
UPSC Books for Mains Optional Subjects
Conclusion
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