Note: All the books mentioned on this page have been tried by me or highly recommended by fellow aspirants. Also I am constantly adding books for CSAT to cover the entire syllabus gradually so keep visiting this page often. This page contains links to pages where you can purchase the books online. Wherever possible I have listed the current and previous year’s edition of current affairs related books.
Before You Start…
I strongly recommend you get hold of previous years solved SECTION-WISE question papers and the Civil Services Exam Syllabus. This will ensure you get off to a flying start in the IAS preparation. Go through this post on why the Solved Papers and Syllabus are Your Best Prelims Guide to know the need for these two books. And I repeat, only get section-wise papers and not the old type as section-wise papers save you precious time and enable better preparation for CSAT.Books for Paper 1 of CSAT/Prelims
General Studies Manual (GS Manual)When starting out with prelims preparation it is a must to have a GS manual with you. What is a GS manual? Well it is a all-in-one book for civil services prelims covering all the topics like History, Geography, Polity, Economy, Current Affairs, General Knowledge, Mental Ability, Facts, and more. It is very useful for finding all information at one place. Also many times the standard books do not contain information, especially the latest ones. For this the GS manual is very handy.
There are many GS manual available in the market but I recommend Tata McGraw Hill’s (TMH) GS Manual for prelims.
I think the information provided in TMH GS manual is up-to date, relevant and of high quality. Also the maps in the Geography section are very good for understanding the concepts. Language used is simple to grasp and its General Knowledge section is quite good. Good part is some discounts on the cover price are available.
Why TMH General Studies Manual is still relevant for CSAT
Manorama Year Book
A good Year Book is must for IAS Prelims preparation. If you analyze the past 4 years GS papers you will find that minimum 15 question each year have appeared from General Knowledge based Year Books. I and many successful civil services candidates refer to Manorama Year Book. The best sections in MYB are the World profile with information on all countries, recent happenings. The Gk section is exceptional with many facts, data, recent news, awards, etc Other thing to read in MYB is the 500 or so Questions section. I have noticed that even if you just look at those questions in passing you will be benefited greatly in the Prelims as 3-4 questions come from just this section in the IAS Prelims. Discount on the cover price is also available. One of the must-have Books for CSAT.
Book for Indian Polity
As seasoned civil services aspirants are aware there are three books widely referred for Indian Polity, An Introduction to the Constitution of India by DD Basu, Our Constitution by Subhash Kashyap, and India’s Constitution by MV Pylee. Of the three books I always recommend Our Constitution by Subhash Kashyap as the language used is very simple to grasp even by someone who is studying Indian polity for the first time, it covers all the concepts required to gain a mastery of the syllabus.
After reading and understanding this book for CSAT and Mains you will only be required to stay up-to-date with the latest developments in Indian polity. The book will take care of all the conventional questions like How has the SC interpreted Article 21 (Right to Life and Liberty), Relative power of LS Speaker and RS Chairman, Anti-Defection Law and many more.
While DD Basu’s book is also OK, the language used is quite difficult to understand and the book has not been revised so it does not contain the recent amendments.
Student Atlas for Geography related questions
Nowadays more map-related questions are being asked in the IAS Preliminary exams than conventional type questions. In fact such map based questions are highly scoring if you just scan and observe the Indian and World maps for at least 15 minutes every day. You can then easily score 6-10 marks in the CSAT exam as about 6-10 questions are asked every year in the civil services Prelims from the Geography Atlas. From my experience and that of other successful civil services candidates, I recommend the Oxford School Atlas for GS Geography questions. The Indian and World maps are quite detailed and the Physical and political maps are very easy to understand. If you need help in studying the Oxford Atlas, just leave a comment and I will be glad to help.
Indian History
For Indian history, apart from referring NCERT text books from class VIII to X, you will have to refer History books related to modern India as well as most of the History questions in the Prelims are asked from modern Indian history section. I and many other civil’s veterans refer India’s Struggle for Independence by Bipin Chandra as the definitive modern Indian history book for CSAT. The book starts from the 1857 Revolt and continues up to ministry formation post 1947. The chapters are arranged logically and all the major Historical events and revolts like the Civil Disobedience Movement, Quit India Movement, farmer’s Satyagraha, Gandhian activism etc are tackled in detail. This book nicely complements the NCERT textbook that covers the 18th and early part of the 19th century. NCERT books have also to be read for covering Ancient and Medieval Indian history. Struggle for Independence is also highly relevant from the Mains GS point of view and is a must read for the Mains.
IAS Books for Paper 2
Fortunately IAS Prelims paper 2 requires far less books compared to Paper 1. Here I list all the popular books for CSAT Paper 2. Remember, you don’t need to refer all of them and different people will like different books so I have listed more than one book.Crack CSAT 2011
Crack CSAT by Disha is quite a useful book for IAS paper 2 as I have mentioned in this post. Not as popular as Unique Publication’s book for CSAT but equally effective, nonetheless.
CSAT Paper 2 by Unique
By far the most popular book for CSAT, Unique Publication has come out with a comprehensive book for Paper 2 covering all the topics in the 2nd paper. Something about Unique Publications. Although it’s not as popular as TMH but its books are trusted by many IAS aspirants for the comprehensive and correct approach to any subject. And CSAT Paper 2 is no exception to this.
Cracking CSAT by Arihant Publications
This is another good book for Paper 2 by Arihant Publications. Although it has been released quite late in the market I feel it is no less useful than the books listed above. The plus points of this guide for CSAT paper 2 are:
- It claims to be the only book to cover the CSAT Paper 2 completely
- There are many sample questions for understanding and many practice questions
- Difficult concepts are explained quite well to a beginner with non-Science background
- Decision making, interpersonal skills, comprehension are also covered
You can also search for books for CSAT and IAS Mains using flipkart.com search box below.
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