The UPSC civil services exam is one of the toughest and most prestigious exams in India. It is the gateway to becoming an IAS, IPS or IFS officer and serving the nation from within the system.
However, clearing this exam requires meticulous preparation over 1-2 years at the very least. An essential aspect of this preparation is referring to the right books and study material. At Chanakya IAS Academy, from our decades of experience training UPSC aspirants, we have curated a list of the most helpful resources across subjects and topics.
Let’s take a look at the UPSC booklist and materials that should be part of every serious UPSC aspirant’s preparation strategy:
Prelims Stage:
The preliminary exam tests your general awareness, aptitude and comprehension skills. Some essential books for prelims preparation are:
NCERT textbooks (Class 6 onwards) for History, Geography, Polity, Environment, Economy and Culture
A good GK manual like the Arihant/Wizard GK manual or Manohar Pandey’s General Studies manual
A Current Affairs yearbook to stay updated on the latest happenings
Apart from books, analyzing previous years’ question papers and taking mock tests is very important at this stage.
Mains Stage:
The written main exam requires in-depth subject knowledge and analytical writing skills. Some must-have books for mains include:
For History: Bipin Chandra’s India’s Struggle for Independence, Spectrum’s Brief History of Modern India
For Art and Culture: Nitin Singhania’s handbook
For Polity and Governance: Laxmikanth’s Indian Polity, Subhash Kashyap books on constitutional governance
For Geography: GC Leong’s Physical Geography, NCRT’s Fundamentals of Physical Geography
For Society and Social Justice: Paper I of XI Five Year Plan, AR Desai’s books
For Internal Security: Ashok Kumar books on internal security
We also strongly recommend reading Yojana, Kurukshetra magazines to understand governance schemes, programs and policies.
Interview Stage:
The personality test is aimed at testing your suitability for public service. Some books that can help with interview preparation are:
India Yearbook released by Publications Division
Manorama Yearbook for events, facts and timeline
Newspaper editorials and articles to improve awareness
Apart from the above UPSC booklist, there are the standard recommended textbooks for individual optional subjects that vary depending on the subject chosen by the aspirant.
While books form the foundation, ultimately it is their smart utilization through selective reading, critical analysis and revision that will lead to exam success. So choose quality over quantity when deciding study material and make the best use of the resources you refer to. Utilize the guidance of educators and experts when needed.
We hope this blog gives you good clarity on designing your UPSC preparation strategy. Trust Chanakya IAS Academy to provide you the right guidance, study materials and test series as well as personalized mentoring support from experienced educators to help you succeed in this prestigious civil services exam.