UPSC Mains Books, Complete Booklist for IAS Mains 2026

UPSC Mains Books for General Studies Paper I

Indian Heritage and Culture

1. Indian Art and Culture by Nitin Singhania

2. The Wonder That Was India by A.L. Basham

3. CCRT website

Indian and World History

1. Ancient History: Ancient India by R.S. Sharma

2. Medieval History: History of Medieval India by Satish Chandra

3. Modern India History: India's Struggle for Independence by Bipin Chandra, Spectrum – Modern India (Rajiv Ahir)

4. Post-Independence History: India after Independence by Bipan Chandra

5. World History: History of the World by Arjun Dev

Indian and World Geography

1. G.C. Leong – Physical Geography 

2. Geography of India by Majid Husain

3. Down to Earth Magazine

4. Oxford Student Atlas of India 

Society

1. Social Problems in India, by Ram Ahuja

2. IGNOU Sociology Notes 

UPSC Mains Books for General Studies Paper II

Indian Polity

1. Indian Polity by M. Laxmikanth

2. PW Udaan

Indian Governance

1. Governance in India by M. Laxmikanth

2. 2nd ARC Reports

3. Strategy for New India @ 75 – NITI Aayog

4. Yojana/Kurukshetra Magazines

Social Justice

1. UPSC Wallah Social Justice

2. Social Problems In India by Ram Ahuja

3. Strategy for New India @ 75 – NITI Aayog

International Relations

1. Class 12th Political Science- Contemporary World Politics

2. Challenge and Strategy: Rethinking India's Foreign Policy by Rajiv Sikri

3. Global Politics by Andrew Heywood

4. Pax Indica by Shashi Tharoor

5. MEA website

UPSC Mains Books for General Studies Paper III

Economy and Development

1. Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh

2. Economic Survey (latest)

3. Indian Budget (latest)

Environment

1. Shankar IAS Environment 

2. Selective NCERTs

3. ICSE Environment Education Std 10

4. Physics Wallah UPSC Environment & Ecology

5. Down To Earth, PIB, MoEFCC reports 

Science & Technology

1. Science and Technology by Ravi. P. Agrahari

2. PW UDAAN 3.0 Science & Technology

3. The Hindu and Indian Express 

4. Science Reporter Magazine

Internal Security

1. Challenges to Internal Security of India by Ashok Kumar IPS

2. IDSA reports

Disaster Management

1. Disaster Management in Brief by B. Singh

2. Disaster Management: Warning Response & Community by Kamal Kishore and Muzamil M.

Agriculture

1. PW Current Affairs books

2. Yojana & Kurukshetra

3. PIB Agriculture Ministry, Economic Survey 

UPSC Mains Books for General Studies Paper IV

Ethics

1. Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude by Subba Rao

2. A Practical Approach to Ethics Integrity and Aptitude by By D.K Balaji

3. Lexicon for Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude

(Anyone from above)

Case Studies

1. 2nd ARC Reports

2. Prahaar Ethics by PW OnlyIAS.

3. UPSC Essence GS Paper IV by PW OnlyIAS

UPSC Mains Books for Optional Papers

Agriculture

• Agronomy By Yellamananda Reddy

• Soil Science – D.K Das Or Brady

• Genetics By B.D.Singh

• Entomology – Vasantha Raj & David

Botany

• Taxonomy: Nair, along with Datta

• Embryology: Bhojwani and Bhatnagar

• Physiology and Biochemistry: Salisbury and Ross or Fritz and Noggle

• Economic Botany: Kochar or Verma

Economics

• International Economics – Bo Soderston

• National Income Accounting – Bakerman

• Banking – S.B. Gupta

• International Trade – Bo Soderston

Sociology

• Sociology: Themes and Perspectives by Haralambos and Holborn.

• Sociological Theory by George Ritzer

• Indian Society by S.C. Dubey.

• Rural Sociology – S L Doshi

• Modernization Of Indian Tradition, Yogendra Singh

• IGNOU Sociology Notes

Anthropology

• N. Hasnain: Tribal India

• Herskovits: Cultural Anthropology

• Surender Nath: Forensic Anthropology

• Herskovits: Cultural Anthropology

• Stein & Rowe: An Introduction to Physical Anthropology

• NCERT Biology + Evolution topics 

History

• History of Modern India – Shekhar Bandopadhyaya/Bipan Chandra

• India’s Ancient Past – R.S. Sharma

• The Wonder That Was India – A.L. Basham

• Ashoka and the Decline of the Mauryas – Romila Thapar

• India’s Struggle For Independence – Bipan Chandra and Others

Mathematics

• Ordinary Differential EQs:- MD Raising Lumina, Golden series-NP Bali

• Real Analysis – Shanti Narayan, Royden

• Linear Programming – SD Sharma

• Solid Mechanism – Kazmioo

Geography

• Physical Geography by Savindra Singh

• Geomorphology by Savindra Singh

• Oceanography by Savindra Singh

• Climatology by D S Lal

• Environment Geography by Savindra Singh

• Models in Geography by Majid Husain

Political Science and International Relations

• An Introduction To Political Theory- O.P Gauba

• Fifty Major Political Thinkers- Ian Adams And R W Dyson

• A History Of Political Thought: Plato To Marx – Subrata Mukherjee And Sushila Ramaswamy

• An Oxford Companion To Politics In India – Niraja Gopal Jayal And Pratap Bhanu Mehta

Psychology

• Psychology XI & XII Std NCERT

• Introduction to Psychology Morgan & King

• Psychology by Ciccarelli

• Social Psychology Baron & Byrne

• Psychology Robert A Baron

• The Psychology of Small Groups Shaw

Management

• Financial: Pandey/Chandra/Khan & Jain/Bearley

• Economics: Any good economics book

• Operations: Adams/Taha

• Organisational Design: Khandwala; Madhukar Shukla

Electrical Engineering

• Modern Central Engineering – Ogata

• Electromagnetic Waves and Field – R.N. Singh

• Surveying and Levelling – T P Kanetakar

• Heat Conversion – Arora & Kundwar

NCERT Books for UPSC Mains Exam

History

• Old NCERT - Ancient India – R S Sharma, Medieval India – Satish Chandra

1. New NCERTs - Class 6th to 12th

2. NCERT Class 11th - Introduction to Indian Art

3. NCERT Class 12th - Living Craft Traditions of India

Geogaphy

• NCERTs: XI

Polity

1. Class XI – Indian Constitution at Work

2. Class XII – Politics in India Since Independence

Ecology & Environment 

1. Class XII - Biology Chapter No 13,14,15,16

Economics

1. Class XI – Indian Economic Development

2. Class XII – Introductory Macroeconomics

Science

1. Class XI NCERTs –  Biology Units 4 & 5

2. Class XII NCERTs – Biology Units 8, 9 & 10

Indian Society

1. Class XI – Understanding Society

2. Class XII – Indian Society

3. Class XII – Social Change and Development in India