IAS Prelims exam books recommended by Toppers

IAS Prelims exam books recommended by Toppers

UPSC IAS prelims examination seems tough and tricky, but with right direction and recommended books for IAS by toppers will make the work easier and streamlined for you.

In this article we will discuss the books required for UPSC prelims preparations

Before we start, a Note

1. Do not get bogged down by seeing the number of books or the size of the books., if done systematically then there is nothing to worry about.

2. Please keep your syllabus copy print ready with you. Every book recommended will be some how related to the official syllabus mentioned by the UPSC in its notification.

3. Start with the NCERT books, as this will be the base for your all other books.

4. One source is enough for every topic (e.g. for Polity only Laxmikanth is enough, no need to go through DD Basu)

5. Add current affairs (take help of internet) as and when updated to the basic books (e.g. Article 370 amendment).

6. Do not rely 100% on coaching material notes, refer them but keep basics only from standard books (as these books tend to cover all the syllabus topics at one place).

7. REVISE REVISE and REVISE

Book/Source list for every subject is given below

All books are not required to be read cover to cover, but only the important topics. (Like economic survey, Old NCERT of Medieval India, )

To find the important topics please analyse the previous year questions of last 10 years, that will give you a rough idea about some of the important topics that are regularly asked.

Economy

1. Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh
2. Macroeconomics – NCERT Class XII
3. Indian Economic Development – NCERT Class XI
4. Economic Survey
5. The Hindu
6. Selective searching of concepts on internet (Arthpedia, Google, Youtube)

Ancient History of India

1. Old NCERT by RS Sharma

Medieval History of India

1. Old NCERT by Satish Chandra

Modern History

1. A Brief history of Modern India- Spectrum Publications
2. India’s Struggle for Independence – Bipan Chandra
3. NCERT by Bipan Chandra (For the period 1700s to 1857)

Indian Art and Culture

1. An Introduction to Indian Art – Class XI NCERT
2. Chapters related to culture in Ancient and Medieval India NCERTs (Our Past and Themes)
3. Centre for Cultural Resource and Training (CCRT) material
4. Heritage Crafts: Living Craft Traditions of India -NCERT
5. Nitin Singhania: Art and Culture

Environment and Biodiversity

1. Shankar IAS book
2. NCERT: Unit 16 Chemistry in Everyday Life (Class 11^th)
3. NCERT: Unit 9 and 10 (Biology class 12^th)
4. India Yearbook 2019 Chapter 12

Polity

1. Indian Polity by Laxmikanth

General Science

1. General Science books – IX and X standard
2. The Hindu (Science and technology page)
3. Google and YouTube

Geography

1. Fundamentals of Physical Geography XI NCERT
2. India: Physical Environment XI NCERT
3. Fundamentals of Human Geography XII NCERT
4. India: People and Economy XII NCERT
5. Certificate Physical and Human Geography: GC Leong

Govt Schemes  

1. Any yearly compilation (just do not give more time remembering nitty gritty of every scheme, in 2019 prelim a single question was asked on Atal Innovation Scheme that too a simple one)
2. 350+ Government Schemes Via Mind maps & Diagrams for UPSC

General happenings (Eg: Global groupings, Reports, Institutions, Rankings etc)

1. Daily current affairs

Current Affairs

1. The Hindu
2. Indian Express

All books are not required to be read cover to cover, but only the important topics. (Like economic survey, Old NCERT of Medieval India, )

To find the important topics please analyze the previous year questions of last 10 years, that will give you a rough idea about some of the important topics that are regularly asked.