History Must Read NCERT Books

6th Our Pasts 1

7th Our Pasts II

8th Our Pasts III Part 1, Part 2

9th India & the Contemporary World 1

10th India & the Contemporary World II

11th Themes in World History (Focus on Industrial Revolution)

12th Themes in Indian History I, Themes in Indian History II, Themes in Indian
History III

Geography Must Read NCERT Books

6th The Earth : Our Habitat

7th Our Environment

8th Resources & Development

9th Contemporary India 1

10th Contemporary India 1I

11th Fundamentals of Physical Geography, 11th India Physical Environment

12th Fundamentals of Human Geography, 12th India People & Economy

Economics Must Read NCERT Books

9th Economics

10th Understanding Economic Development

11th Indian Economic Development

12th Introductory Microeconomics

12th Introductory Macroeconomics, Class XII Supplementary reading material in

Economics Introductory Macroeconomics

Political Science Must Read NCERT Books

9th Democratic Politics I

10th Democratic Politics II

11th Indian Constitution at Work

11th Political Theory

12th Contemporary World Politics (8th Environment & Natural Resources)

12th Politics in India Since Independence

Sociology Must Read NCERT Books

12th Social Change & Development in India

Culture/Fine Arts Must Read NCERT Books

11th An Introduction to Indian Art

Science Must Read NCERT Books

For science, aspirants are advised to go through at-least these selected chapters from the mentioned
standards.

6th 9: The Living Organisms & their Surroundings

7th 7: Weather, Climate & Adaptations of Animals, 9: Soil

8th 1: Crop Production & Management, 5: Coal & Petroleum, 7: Conservation of

Plants & Animals, 12: Friction, 18: Pollution of Air & Water

9th 14: Natural Resources

10th 14: Sources of Energy, 15: Our Environment, 16: Management of Natural
Resources

12th (Biology) Unit X: Ecology (13 Organisms & Population, 14 Ecosystem, 15

Biodiversity & Conservation, 16 Environmental Issues)

1.

Public Administration Laxmikanth

2.

New Horizons Of Public Administration Mohit Bhattacharya

3.

Administrative Thinkers D. Ravindra Prasad

4.

Contemporary Debates in Public Administration Dhameja Alka

5.

Indian Administration Maheswari

6.

Introduction to the constitution of India D.D.Basu

7.

Public Administration: Concepts And Theories Rumki Basu

8.

A Dictionary of Public Administration Maheswari

9.

Indian Administration Pankaj Singh

10.

Public Administration : Theory And Practice

11.

Governance in India for UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination Laxmikanth

12.

Administrative Theories And Management Thought Sapru

Following is the first list of Books and resources for the IAS mains examination. I will keep on adding
notes later. In case you have a list please share it here on this blog.
General Resources and most important point

Different websites,Wikipedia and youtube are very good learning resources on the internet. You should
make use of them as often as possible.
You must copy to a file the important webpages and links to important videos. I cannot overemphasise the
importance of doing so. Google search is also useful in case you face difficulty in understanding. Wikipedia
should be used to clarify concepts. For non science students you tube videos are excellent help on science
topics.
Remember that the toppers like Gaurav feel that internet contributed more than 2/3rd of their
preparation.
Facebook There are excellent groups on facebook where the following material is available in e format
posted by your fellow IAS aspirants . Try Sriram or Vajiram IAS groups.
Important for those who chose non English medium or face difficulties in reading material in English. If
your level of English is very low use Google translator. If you have occasional difficulties then use this free
offline dictionaryDownload WordWeb. Your English reading comprehension will improve dramatically
within six months. This will help you to understand the IAS question papers too.
Read the following 10 books to start 1) Indian History and Culture - V.K Agnihotri
2) India's Struggle for Independence - Bipan Chandra
3) Indian Polity - M Laxmikant
4) Introduction to the Constitution of India - D D Basu
5) Physical and Human Geography - Goh Cheng Leong
6) Geography of India - Majid Hussain
7) Environment & Ecology: Biodiversity, Climate Change and Disaster Management - Majid Hussain
8) Indian Economy - Dutt & Sundaram OR Mishra and Puri
9) Indian Economy - Ramesh Singh
10) Indian Foreign Policy - Rajiv Sikri
The above 10 books comprise almost everything - Ancient History, Medieval History, Modern History,
Culture, Indian National Movement, Physical Geo, Human Geo, Indian Geography, Environment,
Ecology, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Disaster Management, Indian Polity, Governance, Constitution,
Indian Economy - Basics and Advanced, Indian foreign policy and international relations.
If you read these 10 books thoroughly along with the 30 NCERTtextbooks and the Hindu newspaper you
will be well on your way to master GS papers.
Following are paperwise details:

Paper 1:
World History
Book by Arjun Dev,
IGNOU BA notes,
youtube videos
You should watch the important youtube videos covering major events (history channel and BBC series
can help) if you are planning to prepare on long term basis with plenty of time. As it is said
"Tell me, I'll forget. Show me, I'll remember. Involve me, I'll understand"

There is no substitute for understanding using the videos. You learn by being involved completely. Not
only your eyes but your ears and your brain is actively involved.
Indian history
NCERT books,
history book by Bipan Chandra on Modern India.
Modern Indian history- Spectrum
Indias freedom struggle- Bipan Chandra
India since independence- Bipan Chandra
Which edition NCERT books (old/new) are preferable? Or we should study both?
My answer is that both should be read. The new editions cover the subject in an interesting manner which
arouses the spirit of inquiry and analysis. So read the new first.
Then go over to the old books which are more oriented towards facts and loaded with information. For IAS
exams you will need the ability to analyse along with relelvant facts and trends.
Supplement with the youtube videos esp series Pradhanmantri. Bharat Ek Khoj, BBC series
CultureNIOS culture
Spectrum publications book
CCRT website
NCERT book on Indian Art
youtube videos Indian diplomacy channel
SociologyNCERT 11th and 12th standard textbooks
IGNOU BA notes ESO 12 module

GeographyNCERT 8th to 12th standard textbooks.

Physical geography Go Che Leong
Neetu Singh's notes for world geography.
India-Comprehensive Geography by D B Khuller
Paper 2:
PolityIndian Polity by Laxmikant
Sriram's notes
Supplement with the youtube videos esp series Pradhanmantri.
Playlists of Loksabha and Rajyasabha channels, 7 RCR.
2nd ARC report- Dont read entire report, but read those topics only which are in the syllabus.Be very
selective while reading it. Only selected and relevant areas should be studied . Revision is very important
after each reading. Use it extensively in your answers.
Yojana- not only the current issues but also the issues of previous years can be read selectively according
to the topics in syllabus.
PIB (Press Information Bureau)- Studying and preparing from PIB press notes is an art. Read daily
releases on the PIB website along with newspapers. I dont think you need to read India Year Book if you
are following PIB regularly. Make sure that you read very selectively. If you cant read entire year's release
at least try and read the PIB releases from the date of Prelims to Mains exams. You can also profitably
refer to the section called Features on the website. Make sure that you revise regularly.
PRS | Home- It gives good insight about latest government policies, bills, acts etc.
Read selected portion from Public Administration material
International affairsNewspapers- The Hindu and Indian express
Frontline Magazine- World Affairs (Topics of international affairs are comprehensively covered by
frontline)
IDSA website- Subscribe to it and receive mails regularly. Read the articles in the section- comment
On the IDSA website, you should also follow the section called Ask an expert This area gives you very
good insights which you can draw from the experts. Here you can also learn the art of writing answers on
international affairs.

Economic and political weekly- Editorial should be treated as an essential reading.

Ministry of external affairs website- It carries lot of resources. Information related to bilateral
relations, multilateral forums international bodies is available. It has collection of good articles. We can
also get the statements of the President, the Prime minister and external affairs minister at one place.
Other good books like Pax indica (by Shashi Tharoor may be read if you have spare time)
NCERT 11th and 12th books can also be read if you have time.
Youtube videos Indian Diplomacy playlists, BBC, Al Jazeera, RajyaSabha and LokSabha etc.
Srirams notes.
Paper 3:
Economics- any good book on Indian economy. You may read Indian economy notes by Srirams IAS. If
possible read these notes along with listening to Sriram class recordings.
For topics like infrastructure, industrial policy, irrigation etc. read Datt and Sundaram's book, to
understand basics.
NIPFP | web page
Newspapers and magazines like EPW.
Sriram's notes.
Disaster management2nd ARC report on Crisis management. Government websites, NCERT pdfs
Science and technologySrirams notes and Vision IAS notes.Use internet extensively. Explore syllabus. Wikipedia helps.
SecurityLatest annual report of ministry of home affairs.
IDSA website- search articles on this website. It has good articles related to internal security, cyber
security etc.
IDSA monograph on internal security.
Grand strategy of India 2020- IDSA publication.- Read selectively(for only mentioned topics in syllabus)
Environment-

Internet, UGC, ICSE 9th and 10th standard Beeta Publications books, NCERT books
Paper 4:
Your strategy should be to have an initial reading and then to concentrate on writing answers. Make it a
regular practice.
read 4 reports of 2nd ARC Ethics in administration, Personnel administration, District administration
and Citizen centric administration.
Book by Ramesh Arora- Ethics in governance.
Collection of quotes of eminent persons and inspiring stories of great people can improve your answer.
List of magazinesYojana, Frontline, Science reporter, Economic and political weekly, Down to earth: You can read even
online editions.
Websites- IDSA, government websites like PIB, websites of various ministries like MEA, MHA, MoEF etc.
You can expect that questions will not need data and figures. If you want to score good marks, you must
project your true self and your own personality in your answers. This paper gives you the opportunity to
show the examiner your positive, pro-poor and proactive attitude, concern for the vulnerable sections of
the society. You should try to demonstrate the citizen centric administration along with your qualities like
objectivity, analytical ability, reasoning, rational thinking etc. It is important that the answers are in your
own words and forcefully express you.
Explore the syllabus and analyse it. Practice regularly the art of writing the answers.