List of Books for Civil Services Prelims Examination 2018

Civil Services exam is one of the toughest competitive exams of India. It is called as the mother of all competitive exams. Students should prepare for this exam thoroughly and comprehensively. They should not leave any stone unturned before taking up this exam. The UPSC Civil Services Preliminary exam is quite unpredictable. Questions can be put from any area of the syllabus even from those areas which have been considered redundant from few years. UPSC likes to surprise students every year and inhibit any kind of guessing of questions by students. But overall UPSC tries to cover maximum areas of the syllabus in the exam.

The syllabus of the Civil Services Examination is very wide. Often students get lost in their pursuit to cover all areas of the syllabus, whereas time for preparation is limited. They must wind up their preparation within the given limited time. A student should prepare smartly. It means he or she should know how to dig deep in any topic and wind it up also.

In order to qualify this exam a candidate is required to devise strategies for every subject

There are two papers in the Civil Services Preliminary Exam.

Paper 1- General Studies

Paper 2- CSAT Civil Services Aptitude Test.

The General Studies question paper measures the wider ambit of knowledge of students whereas aptitude test aims at measuring the sharpness and accuracy of knowledge of students in the exam.

Check below for the total number of questions and total marks for the exam -

Name of paper	Number of questions	Total marks	Duration of the exam
Paper 1 General Studies	100	200	2 Hours
Paper 2 Aptitude Test	80	200	2 Hours​
Total	180	400	4 Hours

The UPSC prescribes an exhaustive and quiet comprehensive syllabus for Civil Services Prelims examination. It is advised that students should start their preparation with a proper strategy in their kit. Besides, a student should also make a proper selection of books to prepare in the best way for the prelims examination.

Below we are providing a list of books for the UPSC Civil Services preliminary examination.

List of books for Paper 1 General Studies - The subjects from which questions are asked in this paper are History, Polity, Art and Culture, Geography, Economics, Environment and Current Affairs, Science and Technology.

History Books

There are three areas in the history from where the questions are asked. Students are required to cover the ancient medieval and modern History of India. No questions are asked from the world history.

Area of history	Name of the books
Ancient history of India	Book by R.S Sharma.
Mediaeval history of India	Book by Satish Chandra.
Modern History of India	Book by Bipan Chandra.

Polity Books

Questions are asked in the exam from the Indian Polity section. Students should first of all have conceptual clarity in the various sections of the polity and thereafter they should memorize all the articles.

Area of polity	Name of Books​
For conceptual clarity	D.D Vasu.
For important information	M. Laxmikanth.

Geography Books

Questions in the exam come from the physical and human geography of India and the world. But most of the questions are centered on India.

Area of geography	Name of books
Geography of India	Geography​of India by Majid Hussain.
Geography of world	Geography of world by GC Leong.
Maps	Oxford School of Atlas.

Economic Books

In economics, questions are usually from the latest developments in the economy of India and the world. Student should work on 2 levels, one to build his or her concepts in basic economics and also get the information about the latest developments in the economy.

Area of economy	Name of books
Indian economy	Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh.
Economic survey	Economic Survey published by the Government of India.

 Art and Culture Books

The questions are put from the art and culture of India. It covers the ancient, medieval and modern Indian aspects of art and culture. Students are required to memorize about various monuments, historical places, paintings, temples etc. of India.

Area of Art and Culture	Name of book
About in Indian art and culture	Book by Nitin Singhania - Indian Art and Culture.
About Indian art and culture	Book by A.L Basham - The Wonder That was Alive.

 Environment Book

In order to prepare for this section, a student is required to read the newspaper on daily basis to stay updated about the environmental news of India and the world. The UPSC in recent years is putting lot of attention on this area and hence many questions are asked from this section. The best resources to prepare for this section are as follows-

• The Hindu newspaper
• Environment part of class 11th and class 12th.

Science and Technology Books

Science and technology is another very important area from where many questions are put in the Civil Services Prelims examination. This section demands a conceptual clarity on the part of candidate. In addition a candidate should also have updated information about the latest technological developments around the world and India in particular. The best resources to prepare for this section are as follows -

• Science and Tech by TMH
• Science and Technology special weekly edition of ‘The Hindu’, newspaper.

Current Affairs Books

This is one of the most important sections in the Civil Services Preliminary exam. Students should keep themselves updated about all events that have happened in a year. They are also expected to know every detail about all events. The best resources for this section are as follows-

·        India year book

·        Manorama year book.

CSAT Paper 2

This paper tests candidate’s aptitude. From 2015 a candidate is required to score only passing percentage of 33%marks to qualify the exam. The best resources for this section are as follows -

Name of paper	Name of the books
Verbal and nonverbal reasoning	Book by R.S Aggarwal.
Analytical reasoning	Book by M.K Pandey.
CSAT manual	Book by Arihant.

These books are easily available online. You can buy a copy and start your preparations for Civil Services Examinations.