Best Books and Preparation Material for UPSC Civil Services Exam

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The Civil Services Examination is a coveted exam for which many students appear every year. Before starting the preparation, it is necessary to go through the books and materials present for the UPSC exam preparation so that a student can decide how to start his preparation.

These days most students prefer online preparation for examination. You can join UPSC online classes to start your preparation. However, one cannot ignore the importance of the books and study material for the examination.

There are a plenty of books and study material available in the market, but opting for the best is very necessary to get an edge ahead of others. In this blog, we will discuss about books and study material that are the best complement your online preparation for examination.

Subjects and Their Study Materials

Books for CSE prelims examination-

1. Indian Polity- Start with the books of Political Science of NCERT.
   1. Indian Polity (M. Lakshmikanth).
   2. Introduction to Indian Constitution (D.D Basu).
2. History- NCERT books of History
   1. India’s Struggle for independence (Bipan Chandra) and
   2. Facets of Indian Culture (Spectrum).,
   3. Modern history (Norman Lowe)
   4. CCRT website.
3. Geography- NCERT books
   1. World atlas
   2. Certificate Physical geography (G.C. Leong),
   3. Shakar IAS notes for Environment and Ecology.
4. Economics- The basic economy of Class IX and XII.
   1. Indian Economics by Ramesh Singh,
   2. Sriram IAS notes.
   3. Recent Economic Survey.
5. International Relations- Keep reading Current affairs and world Affairs.
6. Civil Services Aptitude Test-
   1. Tata McGraw Hill CSAT manual,
   2. CSAT II- Arihant,
   3. Verbal and Non- Verbal Reasoning R.S. Aggrawal.

Books for mains-

1. History, Indian Heritage & Culture (GS paper 1)-
   1. An Introduction to Indian Art Part 1: Textbook in Fine Arts for Class XI,
   2. India’s Struggle for Independence by Bipan Chandra,
   3. India after Independence by Bipan Chandra,
   4. History of Medieval India by Satish Chandra,
   5. Ancient India by R.S Sharma
2. Geography (GS paper 1)-
   1. Geography of India by Majid Husain,
   2. World Geography by Majid Husain,
   3. World Atlas,
   4. Certificate Physical and Human Geography – G C Leong,
   5. Fundamentals of Physical Geography NCERT Class 11.
3. Polity and International Relation (GS paper 2)-
   1. Indian Polity by M. Laxmikanth,
   2. Introduction to the Constitution of India by DD Basu,
   3. India’s Foreign Policy by Rajiv Sikri
4. Indian Economy-
   1. Indian Economy – Ramesh Singh
   2. Current affairs related to RBI
   3. Sriram IAS notes for economy.
5. Ethics (GS Paper 4)-
   1. Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude for Civil Services Main Examination by Subba Rao and P.N. Roy Chaudary.

Apart from these books, you are required to keep a very keen eye on Current affairs for online exam preparation, for that you can try-

• Read a Newspaper daily to stay updated. You may start with The Hindu. Indian Express and Economic Times.
• Try using some websites such as- GK today, Cloud Affairs, ADDA 247 etc. these sites are very helpful.
• You can also read the Vision IAS or Insight IAS monthly magazine to add more points to your mains answer.
• You may go for some YouTube channel, which provide updated news and updates about various national and international events.
• Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Debates. These debates would clarify various pro and con points related to any topic.
• Any magazine such as Yojana or Kurukshetra. What steps the government is taking and any new scheme that is launched by the government are thoroughly covered in these magazines.

After covering all these things, do not forget to focus on the following mentioned things too-

• Latest economic survey
• Budget
• Finance commission report
• Census
• Annual reports by central ministries
• Niti ayog major policies
• Law commission’s report etc.

Conclusion

There is abundant material to prepare from. What you really need to clear the most difficult examination of the country is dedication, persistency and perseverance. This examination is simply not just about how much you know, but also about how much effort you can put in and how much you understand the events happening around you.