If you are an aspirant who for the first time have planned to appear for the UPSC 2023 Civil Services IAS Exam or to write the exam in any near future but stuck on which sources or books to refer then here we present you a list of best books for UPSC Prelims which every candidate must have to clear the UPSC Prelims Exam in their first attempt.
After a thorough research and analysing the other aspirants’ preparation strategies who have cracked the exam or who are preparing for the exam, here we have tried to present the best books for UPSC Prelims and guide the aspirants in the beginning of their journey with right approach and strategy.
In this article, we have shared the most important and best books for UPSC Civil Services IAS prelims exam of both GS Paper I and Paper II.
To make the preparation of IAS aspirants simple and easy, the topics of prelims GS paper 1 are break-down and the books to refer cover these topics are given accordingly.
The UPSC Syllabus for prelims GS paper I is as mentioned below and we have tried our best to provide the best books to cover the syllabus.
- Current events of national and international importance.
- History of India and Indian National Movement.
- Indian and World Geography – Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.
- Indian Polity and Governance – Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
- Economic and Social Development – Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector initiatives, etc.
- General issues on Environmental Ecology, Biodiversity and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialisation General Science.
Current events of national and international importance
As the heading says current events, this part of the prelims syllabus of GS paper I require to read major newspapers like The Hindu, Indian Express, or Times of India religiously and while reading the newspaper aspirants (beginners) should ensure that they are not spending too much time in reading the newspaper. Â One should give priority to news that is national and international importance. If candidates find difficult to read the newspaper or think they waste too much time in reading the newspaper then it is recommended to refer our comprehensive news analysis, which simplifies newspaper reading and making current affairs notes easier.
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Highlights of our Comprehensive News Analysis
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History of India and Indian National Movement
This part of the prelims syllabus covers Ancient, Medieval, and Modern Indian History also includes art and culture as well as Society. To cover this part, here we recommend four important books as mentioned below.
- India’s Ancient Past by R S Sharma – Candidates can refer NCERT when they think they didn’t understand any concepts as NCER is the one and best source to refer in understanding any basic concepts.
- A brief History of Modern India (Rajiv Ahir)
- History of Medieval India
- Facets of Indian Culture
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Indian and World Geography – Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World
To cover this part of the prelims Syllabus, all a candidate has to refer is:
- NCERT Books
- Wizard Geography
- Certificate Physical and Human Geography by Goh Cheng Leong (Author)
Indian Polity and Governance – Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
As a beginner, an aspirant should know that this part of the syllabus cover both current issues (dynamic) and the defined UPSC syllabus (static). The current issues mostly covers new schemes, policies, new bills or acts or any amendment in the existing acts or bills.
- Indian Polity by MÂ Laxmikant
- Our Constitution by Subhash C. Kashyap
Economic and Social Development – Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector initiatives, etc.
Again to cover this part of the prelims syllabus, candidates’ should give importance to the issues in news relating to these topics and to cover the static part of the syllabus
- NCERT Books
- Current Affairs (Comprehensive News Analysis)
- Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh
General issues on Environmental Ecology, Biodiversity and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialisation General Science
Books recommended to cover this part are:
- NCERT / NIOS
- Current Affairs (Comprehensive News Analysis)
- Comprehension
- Interpersonal skills including communication skills;
- Logical reasoning and analytical ability
- Decision-making and problem-solving
- General mental ability
- Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. – Class X level)
As the CSAT Paper II Syllabus says it needs class 10 level mathematics knowledge, reading comprehension, and Logical reasoning and analytical ability.
To cover the Prelims GS (CSAT) Paper II, candidates can refer the below-listed books or start with practicing UPSC previous years’ question papers.
- CSAT Paper – 2 Manual by TMH
- Analytical Reasoning – M. K. Pandey
- Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning – R. S.Aggarwal
Now you know the  must have books to refer for the IAS prelims exam preparation, all you need to do is to take some time to collect these resources and start gearing up for the UPSC 2018 Civil Services IAS Exam.
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