Books for Prelims

A curated, subject-wise list of recommended books for the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary examination.

Subject Recommended Books
History
  • NCERT 6 to 12 (Old & New)
  • Spectrum – A Brief History of Modern India (Freedom Struggle) by Rajiv Ahir
  • Old NCERT Class 11 Ancient India by R.S. Sharma
  • Old NCERT Class 11 Medieval India by Satish Chandra
  • NCERT Class 12 Politics in India Since Independence
Art & Culture
  • NCERT Class 11 An Introduction to Indian Art Part 1: Textbook in Fine Arts
  • CCRT Website
  • Facets of Indian Culture by Spectrum
Geography
  • NCERT 6 to 12
  • Certificate Physical Geography – G C Leong
  • World Atlas
Indian Polity
  • NCERT 6 to 12
  • Indian Polity – M Laxmikanth
  • The Constitution of India by P M Bakshi
International Relations
  • NCERT Class 12 Contemporary World Politics
  • Current Affairs (Daily Newspaper)
Economics
  • NCERT Class 11 & 12
  • Budget
  • Economic Survey
  • Current Affairs (Daily Newspaper)
  • Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh
  • Economic Development & Policies in India – Jain & Ohri
Environment
  • NCERT Class 12 Biology (last 4 chapters)
  • Shankar IAS Environment
  • NIOS Study Material for Environment
Science & Technology
  • NCERT Class 6 to 10 Science
  • Wizard Science & Technology
  • ISRO Website (Science Reports)
CSAT
  • Previous Year Questions
  • Tata McGraw Hill CSAT Manual
  • CSAT II – Arihant
  • Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning – R S Aggarwal