The Mains Booklist | UPSC Mains Answer Writing: Practice PDF Download

As you start reading the books I mention here for GS mains, please keep the following points in mind:

• Along with these books, get a printout of the syllabus and read it thoroughly. Your final aim must be for each topic mentioned in the syllabus, you should have enough content to write a 250-word answer. Go through the past five years’ question papers to understand the breadth and depth of questions UPSC usually asks. It’ll give you a good perspective on what’s important and what’s not.
• Use the internet extensively (and prudently), especially for topics like Science and Technology and Environment. Your target must be to gain knowledge, be it through books or through the internet.
• For all subjects in the syllabus, you will have to combine theory with current affairs specifically for those in GS-2 and GS-3. For both these papers, current affairs form the nucleus. So, you will inevitably do a lot of reading on the internet. Use tools such as Evernote to organise and highlight content.
• Give adequate time for revision. Without it, you will not be able to recollect whatever you may have read. So, please dedicate enough time to it, whether you are giving a mock test or the actual exam.
• Many aspirants commit one fundamental mistake: they read and revise, over and over, but never practise writing answers. Remember that the examiner checking your copy will have no idea about the number of books you’ve read or the number of hours you’ve slogged. Your answers are all that he/she has to judge you upon. So it makes sense to learn, practise and perfect the art of answer writing.
• Mains exam demands not only our memory and intelligence but also endurance. If you lack prior practice, writing relentlessly for 6 hours a day and doing this for 5 days continuously will cause both mental and physical fatigue. The only way to overcome it is to practice enough to build the required stamina before the actual exam.
• General Studies papers demand only a peripheral understanding of an expansive set of topics. So it’s important that you try to gain minimum sufficient knowledge over a diverse set of subjects rather than obsessively focusing on one topic. For instance, it doesn’t make sense to read World History for three months at the expense of all other subjects. Always maintain that fine balance between all the topics and don’t get imprisoned in one.
• In GS, there will be very few questions about which you will have absolutely no clue. Even if you only have a vague idea, write those generic points. Sometimes, common sense and logic also provide you the answer that you need even if you haven't specifically read that topic.
• You must develop the skill to speed read a committee or an organisation’s report on your computer (reading online saves you a lot of time) and highlight important lines as you read along. In the second reading, this highlighted portion is what you need to revise.
• In GS papers, map of India is your most effective tool for illustration. For example, I drew India maps and labelled relevant parts for questions on river linkage (GS-3), North-East insurgency (GS-3),
• Inland navigation (GS-1), India’s 18th-century fragmented polity (GS-1) etc. Aim to draw and label the India map in under 60 seconds. If you are taking a test series, please give those tests with all the seriousness required for the final UPSC exam. Observe strict time limits. In the mock test, if you take 10-15 additional minutes to finish the paper, you are cheating no one except yourself.
• You will never feel content with your Mains preparation. There will always be a nagging tendency to just keep reading and procrastinate writing answers or skip an upcoming test. You have to overcome this reluctance through conscious effort. Suppose before a mock test if you were unable to finish the syllabus, you can postpone your test by a day or two, but don’t skip it altogether or prolong it endlessly.
• Perfectionism is your enemy. If you keep referring to countless sources to make those “perfect notes” or keep postponing your mock tests in order to write “perfect tests”, then you will be brought to ruin. Getting a good score in Mains is about attempting almost all questions to which some answers are excellent, some good and many above average. So, instead of waiting for that elusive perfection, start imperfect and then keep improving.
• When you are buying coaching material, always ask yourself: “Is this material adding something new to my preparation?” If you can’t answer that question convincingly, then the material isn’t probably useful.
• Just because I secured AIR-1, it does not mean that my notes are the best or that the book list I suggest is the last word. Success in this exam takes many roads. Mine is only one of them. What’s important is that you understand the concepts, memorise the facts, build a firm grip over the entire syllabus and apply them in your test papers.
• Finally, reflect on your performance in your mocks and improvise accordingly. Choose what works for you.

GS 1

Indian Art and Culture

• An Introduction to Indian Art – Class XI NCERT
• Chapters related to culture in Ancient and Medieval India NCERTs Centre for Cultural Resource and Training (CCRT) material Heritage Crafts: Living Craft Traditions of India -NCERT

Geography

• Fundamentals of Physical Geography XI NCERT
• India: Physical Environment XI NCERT 
• Fundamentals of Human Geography XII NCERT
• India: People and Economy XII NCERT
• Certificate Physical and Human Geography: GC Leong 
• PMFIAS (Excellent resource for understanding complex topics) 
• Google and YouTube

Modern Indian History

• A Brief History of Modern India- Spectrum Publications
• India’s Struggle for Independence – Bipan Chandra (Read selectively for topics not covered in the Spectrum book)

India’s Post Independence History

• India Since Independence by Bipan Chandra

World History

• Patterns of Interaction by McDougal Littell (Chapter 22 to Chapter 36)

Indian Society

• NCERT Sociology Std XI and XII

GS 2

Polity, Governance and Social Justice

• Static Portion
  • Laxmikanth
  • My hand-written notes for Polity (Available for download on my blog: anudeepdurishetty.in)
  • ARC 2
• Current Affairs
  • The Hindu, The Big Picture on RSTV, All India Radio – Spotlight Monthly current affairs compilation by any coaching institute PRS India for latest legislation

International Relations

• Any good book that adequately covers the historical aspect of India’s bilateral relations.
• Current affairs: The Hindu, India’s World on RSTV, CivilsDaily or Insights or ForumIAS depending upon the topic.

GS 3

Economy

• Macroeconomics – NCERT Class XII
• Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh
• Indian Economic Development – NCERT Class XI Mrunal.org articles
• Economic Survey The Hindu
• Internet for understanding concepts (Arthapedia, Google, Youtube) Budget (any coaching material compilation)
• Economic Survey (gist)
• Niti 3-year Action Plan report (a good resource for policy recommendations that come in handy while you write conclusion)

Current Affairs

• The Hindu
• Compilations by coaching institutes

Indian Agriculture, Land reforms, PDS, Food Processing, LPG, Infrastructure

• Mrunal.org
•  Vision IAS
• The Hindu and coaching material for current affairs

Security

• Vajiram and Vision IAS material
• The Hindu and coaching institute material for current affairs

Disaster Management

• Fundamental reading: CBSE book

Environment and Ecology

• Shankar IAS book
• The Hindu and coaching institute material for current affairs

Science & Tech

• The Hindu
• Vision IAS 
• Mains 365 
• YouTube

GS 4

• 2nd ARC
•  Newspapers
•  Internet