Most Important Books for Mains IAS Exam

1. History Of Modern India – Bipan Chandra. (History)
   
2. India’s Struggle For Independence – Bipan Chandra. (History)
   
3. India’s Ancient Past – R.S. Sharma. (History)
   
4. History Of Medieval India – Satish Chandra. (History)
   
5. The Wonder That Was India – A.L. Bhasham. (Culture)
   
6. Indian Art and Culture – Nitin Singhania. (Culture)
   
7. Geography of India – Majid Husain. (Geography)
   
8. Oxford School Atlas – Oxford. (Geography)
   
9. Certificate Physical and Human Geography – Goh Cheng Leong. (Geography)
   
10. Indian Polity for Civil Services Examinations – M. Laxmikanth. (Polity)
    
11. Indian Economy – Ramesh Singh. (Economy)
    
12. Economic Survey. (Economy)
    
13. Science and Technology in India – TMH. (Science and Technology)
    
14. Environmental Studies: From Crisis to Cure – Rajagopalan. (Environment)
    
15. Environment for Civil Services Prelims and Mains – Khuller. (Environment)
    
16. India Year Book (Current Affairs)
    
17. Manorama Yearbook. (Current Affairs)
    
18. CSAT Paper – 2 Manual by TMH or CSAT-II – Arihant (CSAT – Paper 2)
    
19. Analytical Reasoning – M. K. Pandey (CSAT – Paper 2: Analytical Reasoning)
    
20. Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning – R. S.Aggarwal (CSAT Paper 2: Reasoning)

Additional IAS Books for UPSC Mains (Click on the links to buy online)

1. Essays for Civil Services – Pulkit Khare (Essay Paper)
   
2. India After Gandhi – Ramchandra Guha (History – GS1)
   
3. Norman Lowe OR History of Modern World – Jain and Mathur (World History – GS1)
   
4. Social Problems In India – Ram Ahuja. (Indian Society – GS1)
   
5. IAS Mains General Studies Paper 2 (Arihant Manual – GS2)
   
6. Governance in India for CSE. (Governance – GS2)
   
7. Pax Indica – Shashi Tharoor. (Foreign Policy – GS2)
   
8. India and the World by Surendra Kumar. (Foreign Policy – GS2)
   
9. IAS Mains General Studies – GS3. (Arihant Manual – GS3)
   
10. India’s National Security: A Reader. (Internal Security – GS3)
    
11. Challenges to Internal Security of India. (Internal Security – GS3)
    
12. Lexicon for Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude. ( Ethics – GS4)
    
13. IAS Mains General Studies – Ethics. ( Arihant Manual – GS4)

PS: Many books for UPSC Civil Service Main Exam overlap with books recommended for Prelims, except the mentioned additional books for topics like Foreign Relations, Internal Security, Ethics etc.

IAS Books for Optional Subjects and Additional Reference