History Books

History Books

Ancient India

1. Ancient India (NCERT) Prof. R.S. Sharma
2. The Wonder That was India A.L. Basham
3. Ancient India - An Introductory Outline D.N. Jha
4. History of India, Vol. I Romila Thapar
5. Aspects of Political Ideas and Institutions in Ancient India
R.S. Sharma (only Conclusion)
6. Material culture & Social Formation in Ancient India R.S. Sharma
7. Indian Feudalism R.S. Sharma
8. Ashoka & Decline of the Maurya Romila Thapar
9. A History of South India K.A. Nilkantha Sastri
10Ancient India and Indian Archaeology Archaeological Survey of India

Medieval India

1. Medieval India (NCERT) Satish Chandra
2. Medieval India (Macmillan) Satish Chandra
3.The Wonder That was India (Vol.2) S.A.A. Rizvi
4.The Agrarian System of Mughal India 1556-1707 Irfan Habib
5.The Mughal Empire J.F. Richards
6.Urban Dynamics H.C. Verma
7.The Marathas Gordon

Modern India

1.Modern India (NCERT) Bipan Chandra
2.Modern India (Macmillan) Sumit Sarkar
3.Anatomy of the Raj (PPH) Suhash Chakravarty
4.The Raj Syndrome (Penguins) Suhash Chakravarty
5.VAID's Fundamentals of History Series
a.Administrative History Pravin Kumar
b.Constitutional History Pravin Kumar
c.Social History Pravin Kumar
d.Freedom Struggle Pravin Kumar
6.Peasant Movements in India D.N. Dhanagare
7.India 's Struggle for Independence Bipan Chandra and others
8.Gandhi B.R. Nanda
9.Gandhi Judith Brown
10. Freedom Struggle (NbT) Bipan Chandra & others

World History

1.The story of Civilization, Vol. 2 (NCERT) Arjun Dev
2.Contemporary World History (NCERT) Arjun Dev & others
3.The Mainstream of Civilization Strayer, Gatzke & Harbison
4.Western Civilizations Burns & others
5.Industry & Empire E.J. Hobsbawm
6.Age of Revolution E.J. Hobsbawm
7.Age of Capital E.J. Hobsbawm
8.Age of Empires E.J. Hobsbawm
9.Social basis of Democracy & Dictatorship B.J. Moore
10.Europe Since Napoleon David Thompson
11.Europe Since 1815 W.C. Craig
12.Europe Since 1870 James Joll.

So far as interview is concerned, 'they' are supposed to ask 'general' questions about history. Sometimes, these general questions are tougher than the specific questions asked in Main examination. For this purpose, you are advised to go through at least following three books :

1. What is History E.H. Carr
2. Historian's Craft Marc Block
3. The Past and the present Lawrence Stone

Having read these books, you can confidently move for Interview.

How to prepare for History

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