Before starting this article I would like to say that you need ONLY these seven books to crack

the
Preliminary Examination. Rest all is hard work. Let us begin now.

If you want to increase your chances of selection, then you must prepare from ONLY ONE
STANDARD BOOK for each subject. Throughout, your preparation study only from that book and
revise only that book. DON’T BUY NEW BOOKS.

Why you should prepare from ONLY ONE STANDARD BOOK

and NOT BUY NEW BOOKS?
1. 95% of the facts in almost every standard book are same. There is no point in wasting your
money, time and energy in buying new books for 5% of the remaining facts.
2. Having facts is not enough to crack IAS. You should also remember the facts. That is why
revisions are important. Hence, once the standard book is complete, start revising it and revise
it as many times as you can, so that if any question comes from whatever you have studied you
can answer it with confidence.
3. When you buy new books, you add confusion to your preparation. You study some pages from
one book and some from another. In short, you fail to read even 95% of the facts. Plus, there is
no time left for revisions. And if you have not revised, you cannot answer questions with
confidence.

Which STANDARD BOOK should you choose for a particular

subject?
Since, we have known that ONE STANDARD BOOK and its revision is enough to crack IAS, we must
choose that ONE STANDARD BOOK very wisely. You should keep the following things in mind,
before buying THAT ONE STANDARD BOOK (YOUR FRIEND THROUGHOUT YOUR
PREPARATION)—

1. It must be relevant for IAS exam.

2. It must contain more and more facts.
3. It is well organized and divided into various topics.

CONFUSED!! Don’t worry. Below, I am providing you with list of some of the best books (for all
subjects) for IAS Preparation. You can choose any one of them for each subject as YOUR STANDARD
BOOK (YOUR FRIEND). Besides, I will also tell you that which book I recommend for a particular
subject. It would be best for your preparation, if you buy the book recommended by me, because
I have recommended that book keeping the above factors in mind and experience of other aspirants.

NOTE – My list of recommended books does not include basic books like NCERTs, NIOS and others,
because it is my experience and observation that these books consumes a lot of your time and
energy and gives very less facts in return. To know more that why I do not recommend NCERTs &
other basic books, read the article NCERT MYTH.
BEST STANDARD BOOKS
Subject Options you can choose from PlanetIAS Recommends
Ancient India by V.D. Mahajan
Ancient Indian History from TMH
Ancient Indian History General Studies Manual Ancient India by V.D. Mahajan
Old NCERT on Ancient India by
Makkanlal (Download Free PDF)
Medieval India by V.D. Mahajan
Medieval Indian History from
TMH General Studies Manual
Medieval Indian History Medieval India by V.D. Mahajan
Old NCERT on Medieval India by
Satish Chandra (Download Free
PDF)
Modern India by V.D. Mahajan
Modern Indian History from TMH
General Studies Manual
Old NCERT on Modern India by
Modern Indian History Modern India by V.D Mahajan
Bipan Chandra (Now this book is
available in book stores with the
title “Bipan Chandra – History of
Modern India”)
World & Indian Geography from
TMH General Studies Manual
World & Indian Geography by World & Indian Geography from
Indian & World
Majid Hussain TMH General Studies Manual
Geography
Certificate to Physical Geography Oxford India Student Atlas
by G.C. Leong
Oxford India Student Atlas
Indian Polity by M. Laxmikanth
Constitution of India by D.D.
Polity Basu Indian Polity by M. Laxmikanth
Our Constitution by Subhash C.
Kashyap
Economy from TMH General
Studies Manual Economy from TMH General
Economy
Indian Economy by Ramesh Studies Manual
Singh
Ancient India by V.D. Mahajan
and Medieval India by V.D.
Arts & Culture Any source you like
Mahajan will also cover arts &
culture
Science from TMH General
Science Any source you like
Studies Manual
Maths & Reasoning Any source you like R.S. Agarwal

Let us summarize the recommended books by PlanetIAS

1. Ancient India by V.D. Mahajan
2. Medieval India by V.D. Mahajan
3. Modern India by V.D. Mahajan
 4. TMH General Studies Manual
5. Indian Polity by M. Laxmikanth
6. Oxford India Student Atlas
7. Quantitative Aptitude by R.S. Agarwal

Conclusion
These 7 books are sufficient to help you crack Civil Services Preliminary Exam. All you need to
do is, to study them sincerely and keep revising them again and again. Do not shift your focus
to other books.
These 7 books will cost you roughly around Rs. 3000/- (much less than the lakhs of money that
you give to the coaching institutes).
Also, all these 7 books are available, in both, the Hindi and English languages.

We are sure that this article would have helped you to select YOUR STANDARD BOOK (YOUR BEST
FRIEND) for each subject. Do not waste your time now, buy one of the standard books and start your
preparation right now.

If YOU dream it, YOU CAN do it.

Study with EASE, but Study DAILY.

YOUR FUTURE depends on what YOU do TODAY.

All the Best