UPSC Prelims Preparation Books and Sources

POLITY

NCERT

• NCERT – 6^th to 8^th (for basic understanding)
• NCERT- Class 9^th to 12^th (for understanding more on democracy and federalism)

Standard Books for Indian Polity

• Indian Polity – M Laxmikanth
• Introduction to Indian Constitution – D.D.Basu

ENVIRONMENT

• Shankar IAS Environment
• ICSE Board- Environmental studies- Class 10^th and 11^th
• NCERT Class 12th Biology (Last 4 Chapters)

ECONOMICS

• Macroeconomics- Class 12^th, NCERT
• NCERT 11^th – Indian Economic Development
• NCERT- Class 9^thand 10^th 
• Standard Book-Indian Economy – Ramesh Singh
• Khan Academy Macroeconomics videos
• Investopedia – University (also read basics of Microeconomics from here)
• Sriram’s IAS Economics Notes

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

• NCERT- Class 6^th to 10^th
• NCERT – Biology – 11^th (Unit IV & V only)
• NCERT Biology – 12^th (Chapters 4, 5 and rest from 7 to 16)
• NCERT – Biology – 12^th (OLD) – Chapter 9 onwards
• NCERT – Physics – 11^th (Chap 1,5 & 8) and 12^th (Chap 15 only)
• NCERT – Chemistry – 11^th (Chap 1 & 14 only) and 12^th (Chap 14 & 16 only)
• Science reporter /Yojana Magazine
• The Hindu-Monday Edition (not technical news, only application based science & Tech)

GEOGRAPHY

• NCERT Social Science, Class 6^th (New) ‘The Earth Our Habitat’
• NCERT Social Science, Class 7^th (New) ‘Our Environment’
• NCERT Social Science, Class 8^th (New) ‘ Resource and Development’
• NCERT Social Science, Class 9^th (New) ‘Contemporary India’
• NCERT Social Science, Class 10th (New) ‘Contemporary India-Part II’
• NCERT – Class 11^th (New)
  • Fundamentals of Physical Geography
  • India physical environment
• NCERT – Class 12^th (New)
  • Fundamentals of Human Geography
  • India – People and Economy
• Standard Book-Certificate Physical and Indian Geography – Goh Cheng Leong
• OLD NCERT Geography – Class 11^th and 12^th
• Atlas: Orient BlackSwan School Atlas or Oxford School Atlas

HISTORY

Modern India History

• NCERT – Class 8^th (New) – ‘Our Pasts – III’
• NCERT-Class 12^th ‘Modern India’ (OLD)
• Tamil Nadu Edition- Class 12^th
• Standard Book:
  • Spectrum Modern India – Rajiv Ahir
  • India’s Struggle for Independence – Bipan Chandra
  • Plassey to Partition by Sekhar Bandyopadhyay

Medieval India History

• NCERT – Class 7^th (New) –‘Our Pasts –II’
• NCERT – Class 11^th ‘Medieval India’ (OLD)- Satish Chandra
• Tamil Nadu Edition-Class 11^th
• Ancient and Medieval India –  Poonam Dalal Dahiya

Ancient India History

• NCERT– Class 11^th ‘Ancient India’ (OLD)- R.S. Sharma
• NCERT– Class 12^th ‘Themes in Indian History- Part I’ (NEW)- Chapters 1 to 6
• Tamil Nadu Edition – Class 11^th
• Ancient and Medieval India –  Poonam Dalal Dahiya

CURRENT AFFAIRS

• The Hindu
• The Indian Express
• Livemint 
• Press Information Bureau 
• PRS Website
• IDSA: Institute for Defense Studies and Analysis (For International Relations & Security)
• Yojana and Kurukshetra (For Best Introduction)
• Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha