Booklist for the UPSC CSE Exam


 

History

1.   NCERT – Class 11th & 12th
2.   India’s Struggle for Independence by Bipin Chandra & Others
3.   India’s Ancient Past by R.S. Sharma
4.   Facets of Indian Culture by Spectrum
5.   The Story of Civilization, Part 2 by Arjun Dev (NCERT)
6.    India after Independence by Bipan Chandra
7.    History of Medieval India by Satish Chandra

 

Geography

1.   NCERT – Class 11th & 12th
2.   Certificate Physical and Human Geography – G C Leong
3.   Indian Geography by D.R. Khullar or Geography of India by Majid Hussain
4.   Atlas

Indian Polity

1.   NCERT – Class 11th & 12th
2.   Indian Polity – M. Laxminkant

Governance Issues

1.   From Governance to Governance by Kuldeep Mathur
2.   Selected chapters from 2nd ARC report

 

Indian Economic Development

1.   Class 11th NCERT
2.   Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh or Indian Economy by Sanjeev       verma
3.   Economic survey and Budget

 

Environment & Ecology

1.   Class 12th Biology NCERT (Selected chapters only)
2.   ICSE Books
3.   Shankar IAS Notes

Science & Technology

1.   Class 6-10th Science NCERT

Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude

1.   ARC report
2.   Lexicon by Chronicle publication

Social Issues

1.  Class 11th & 12th NCERT on Indian Society

International Relations

1.   India’s Foreign Policy since Independence by V.P. Dutt or India’s Foreign Policy by Rajiv Sikri

Security Issues

1.    India’s Security in a Turbulent World by Jasjit Singh

Disaster Management

1.   NCERT Books and ARC report on Disaster Management

Current Affairs:    This is one of the most important aspect of this exam. Apart from Basic knowledge of the topics from static books, it is equally important to upgrade that knowledge with current affairs. There are multiple sources of current affairs but few important ones which should be referred to are as follows:

  1. The Hindu
  2. Indian Express
  3. PIB Website
  4. PRS Website
  5. Yojana & Kurukshetra Magazine
  6. One monthly current affairs magazine
  7. Other websites like: Investopedia and Arthapedia can be referred for particular topics
  8. Websites of different ministries for latest policies and programmes

This is a suggestive list of books. Multiple books are available in the market. This list has been prepared based on our past experience of this exam and its pattern. Students can always find alternatives as no two people and their way of learning is the same.

Students should start preparation for Prelims as well as Mains together. Hence, bifurcation has not been done on the basis of stages of exam.