UPSC Book List

Hailed as one of the toughest examinations around the world, UPSC is a tough nut to crack. Every year, tens of thousands of candidates apply for the UPSC examination in hopes of fulfilling their dream to become civil officers. It is a nationwide competitive examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to recruit eligible candidates for the higher civil services of India such as the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service(IPS). So, we must use the best resources available to prepare, which foremost includes books. A good UPSC book can help you crack the exam in one go, provided you make the best use of it. So, we have curated a UPSC book list for your preparation that you must check out.

Name of the Examination	UPSC Civil Services Examination
Conducting Body	Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)
Level of Examination	National Level
Mode of Examination	Pen and Paper
Duration of Examination	2 hours per paper (Preliminary Exam) 3 hours per paper (Main Exam)
Stages of Examination	1. Preliminary Exam 2. Main Exam 3. Personality Test (Interview)
Maximum no. of Attempts	6
Total no. of Services	24
Official Website	UPSC Website

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Also Read: How to Prepare for UPSC

UPSC Preliminary Examination

Before diving into the UPSC Book List, let’s understand the pattern of this exam. UPSC Preliminary Examination is the first qualifying stage of the exam. This stage comprises two  compulsory papers :

1. General Studies I
2. General Studies II or the Civil Service Aptitude Test (CSAT)

Both papers are conducted on the same day

UPSC Main Examination

If you have successfully cleared the preliminary round of the UPSC exam, you are allowed to appear for the UPSC main examination. Here, you must take 9 theoretical papers, which comprises of:

• 2 language papers
• 1 essay paper
• 4 general papers 
• 2 optional subject papers 

All the papers are conducted over 5-7 days. For the main examination, a separate hall ticket is issued to the qualified candidates.

Best Books for Current Affairs

Current affairs play a very significant role in the UPSC examination since it forms a part of all 3 stages of the examination. Hence, you must brush up on your knowledge of current affairs daily with the help of the UPSC book list given below. Here are the top books that can help you get good marks in this section: 

Name of the Book	Author/Publisher	Link
General Knowledge Capsule with Current Affairs	Disha Experts	Buy Here
Manorama Yearbook	Mammen Mathew	Buy Here
Pratiyogita Darpan Yearbook	Pratiyogita Darpan Editorial Team |	Buy Here
Mathrubhumi Yearbook	Mathrubhumi Editorial	Buy Here
Current Affairs Yearly	Arihant Experts	Buy Here
Yojana Magazine	Government of India	Buy Here

Best UPSC Books for History and Geography

When it comes to the topics of history and geography, they are quite popular among the candidates and are often chosen as optional subjects during their main examination. So, here is the top history booklist that can help you with these sections: 

History Booklist for UPSC

Name of the Book	Author/Publisher	Link
India’s Ancient Past	R.S Sharma	Buy Here
History of Modern India	Bipin Chandra	Buy Here
India’s Struggle for Independence	Bipin Chandra	Buy Here
Modern India (Macmillan)	Sumi Sarkar	Buy Here
India after Independence	Bipin Chandra	Buy Here
A new look into the Modern Indian History	B.L Grover	Buy Here

Geography Booklist for UPSC

Name of the Book	Author/ Publisher	Link
Geography of India	Majid Husain	Buy Here
Indian and World Geography	Majid Husain	Buy Here
Oxford School Atlas	Oxford University	Buy Here
Quick Geography for Competitive Exams	Disha Experts	Buy Here
Indian Art and Culture	Nitin Singhania	Buy Here
Certificate Physical and Human Geography	GC Leong	Buy Here

Best Books for Polity and Governance

Just as tough as current affairs, Indian polity and governance are known for being an essential part of all three stages of the UPSC examination. You must be well-versed in an array of topics like the Constitution of India, The Preamble and The Presidency. Here is the UPSC book list that can help you with this section: 

Name of the Book	Author/ Publisher	Link
Indian Polity	M.Laxmikanth	Buy Here
Important Acts that Transformed India	Alex Andrews George	Buy Here
Important Judgements that Transformed India	Alex Andrews George	Buy Here
An Introduction to the Constitution of India	D.D.Basu	Buy Here
The Constitution of India	P.M Bakshi	Buy Here
Governance in India	M.Laxmikanth	Buy Here

Also Read: List of Important Articles in Indian Constitution

Best Books for Economics

The knowledge of Economics helps you understand the transfer of wealth in society. It is imperative to have a strong grasp of this subject to truly understand the functioning of a country or an economy. So, here is the list booklist of Economics for UPSC books that can help you gain expertise in Economics:

Name of the Book	Author/Publisher	Link
Indian Economy	Ramesh Singh	Buy Here
Indian Economy Key Concepts	Sankarganesh K	Buy Here
The Indian Economy	Sanjiv Verma	Buy Here
Quick Indian Economy for Competitive Exams	Disha Experts	Buy Here
Indian Economies – Principles, Policies and Progress	Pearson	Buy Here
Indian Economy: Performance and Policies	Uma Kapila	Buy Here
Indian Economy	Mishra and Puri	Buy Here
Indian Economy	R. Dutt and KPM Sundaram	Buy Here
International Economics	Bo Soderston	Buy Here

Best Books for Environment and Ecology

Environment and Ecology are also major subjects that are vastly covered in the preliminary stage of the UPSC examination. You must particularly concentrate on the sub-topics of biodiversity, social issues and environment as well as the role of IT in the environment. Here is the UPSC book list that can help you with this section: 

Name of the Book	Author/ Publisher	Link
Environment and Ecology – A Complete Guide	R.Rajagopalan	Buy Here
Environment for Civil Services and Prelims and Mains	Khuller and Rao	Buy Here
Environmental Studies: From Crisis to Cure	R.Rajagopalan	Buy Here
Ecology and Environment	P.D. Sharma	Buy Here
Textbook of Environmental Studies for Undergraduate courses	Erach Bharucha	Buy Here
Environment and Ecology	Arihant Experts	Buy Here

Best Books for Science and Technology

Science and Technology also form a major part of both preliminary and main examinations. You can expect a variety of questions related to current experiments, explorations and developments in this field. Here is the UPSC book list that can help you with this section: 

Name of the Book	Author/ Publisher	Link
Encyclopedia of General Science	Arihant Experts	Buy Here
General Science	Disha Experts	Buy Here
Quick General Science for Competitive Exams	Disha Experts	Buy Here
Science and Technology for Civil Services Exams	Ravi Agrahari	Buy Here
1000 Plus Questions on General Science	McGraw Hill	Buy Here

Best Books for International Relations

International Relations is one of the core subjects that forms a part of both preliminary and main examination. You can also expect questions related to current affairs in this field. Here are the top books that can help you with this section: 

Name of the Book	Author/ Publisher	Link
International Relations	Vinay Kumar Malhotra	Buy Here
International Relations: The Key Concepts	Terry O’Callaghan, Martin Griffiths, Steven C. Roach	Buy Here
International Relations in the 21st Century	P.Pant	Buy Here
Challenge and Strategy: Rethinking India’s Foreign Policy	Rajiv Sikri	Buy Here
India’s Foreign Policy Since Independence	V.P. Dutt	Buy Here
Pax Indica	Shashi Tharoor	Buy Here
India’s Foreign Policy: Coping with the Changing World	Muchkund Dubey	Buy Here

Best Books for Indian Society 

You must brush up on your knowledge related to Indian Society and related topics. This subject appears in both stages of examination. Therefore, you must go through all the relevant books holistically to have a firm grasp of this subject. Here is the UPSC book list that can help you get that grasp in this section: 

Name of the Book	Author/ Publisher	Link
Social Problems in India	Ram Ahuja	Buy Here
Indian Society: For Civil Services Main Examination for GS Paper I	M. Senthil Kumar and S Rijesh	Buy Here
Society in India: Concepts, Theories and Recent Trends	Ram Ahuja	Buy Here
Indian Society: A General Overview	Dr B Ramaswamy	Buy Here
Indian Society: Themes and Social Issues	Nadeem Hasnain	Buy Here

Best Books for Internal Security

The subject of Internal Security is often neglected by candidates during their preparations for the main examination. However, they do form an essential part of the examination. You can easily attempt this paper by regularly updating your knowledge of current affairs from numerous newspapers and magazines specifically related to internal security. Here is the UPSC Book list that can help you ace this section: 

Name of the Book	Author/ Publisher	Link
Challenges to Internal Security of India	Ashok Kumar	Buy Here
Governance in India	M.Laxmikanth	Buy Here
Internal Security in India- Issues and Perspective	Dr Shrikant Paranjpe	Buy Here
Internal Security: Concepts, Dynamics and Challenges	Lohit Matani	Buy Here
Internal Security of India	Dr Shrikant Paranjpe	Buy Here

Best Ethics Books

Ethics and Values play a vital role in the smooth functioning of an administration system. In current times, the subject of ethics is slowly gaining prominence among candidates due to its short and crisp syllabus. However, you may face difficulty while attempting this paper, mainly because this subject implores you to write your individualistic opinion. Here is the top UPSC book list that can help you ace the Ethics section:

Name of the Book	Author/Publisher	Link
Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude	G Subba Rao & P N Roy Chowdhury	Buy Here
Lexicon for Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude for IAS General Studies Paper IV	Niraj Kumar	Buy Here
Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude	Santosh Ajmera & Nanda Kishore Reddy	Buy Here
Ethics, Integrity and Value in Public Service	Ramesh K Arora	Buy Here
Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude	M.Karthikeyan	Buy Here

Best Essay Books

As per the new syllabus, the weightage of Essays in the main examination is 250 marks, which forms a significant part of the final score. It falls at equal footage with the other papers. Hence, you must be thoroughly prepared to write a legible essay with proper grammar, structure and presentation. Here are the top books that can help you with this section: 

Name of the Book	Author/ Publisher	Link
Mastering Essay and Answer Writing	Dr Awdhesh Singh	Buy Here
Essays for Civil Services and Other Competitive Exams	Pulkit Khare	Buy Here
Selected Contemporary Essays	Saumitra Mohan	Buy Here
Essay Paper For Civil Services Main Examination	Pavneet Singh and Sonali Bansal	Buy Here
151 Essays for IAS/ PCS & other Competitive Exams	Disha Experts	Buy Here

Also Read: UPSC Essay Topics

Best Books for Solved Papers

Solving innumerable practice tests and mock tests can help build confidence and increase your chances of passing the UPSC examination with flying colours. You must revise and go through several past UPSC papers to anticipate potential questions and prepare for them accordingly. Here is the UPSC book list that offer solved papers for you to practise:

Name of the Book	Author/Publisher	Link
21 Years CSAT General Studies IAS Prelims Topic-wise Solved Papers (Old Edition)	Disha Experts	Buy Here
IAS General Studies Prelims Solved Papers	Vishal Publications	Buy Here
IAS Mains Chapterwise Solved Papers General Studies	Arihant Experts	Buy Here

Also Read: All NCERT Books for UPSC Exams

This blog covers a comprehensive UPSC book list preparation. There are many more reference books that you can also explore to increase your chances of clearing the examination. For more such informative content, stay connected to Leverage Edu and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Quora.