Famous Books and Authors is an important topic for SSC, UPSC, Railway, Banking, State PCS, UPSSSC PET, Police and other competitive exams. This page provides a comprehensive list of important books and their authors, including ancient and medieval Indian literature, modern Indian books, freedom-fighter writings, Hindi and English literature, autobiographies, political books and famous world classics.
A PDF of the Famous Books and Authors list is also available for quick revision and offline study.
1. Ancient Indian Books and Authors
Book / Work
Author
Rigveda
Traditionally attributed to ancient Vedic sages
Ramayana
Valmiki
Mahabharata
Ved Vyasa
Bhagavad Gita
Part of Mahabharata, traditionally attributed to Ved Vyasa
Arthashastra
Kautilya / Chanakya / Vishnugupta
Indica
Megasthenes
Mudrarakshasa
Vishakhadatta
Ashtadhyayi
Panini
Mahabhashya
Patanjali
Buddhacharita
Ashvaghosha
Harshacharita
Banabhatta
Kadambari
Banabhatta
Panchatantra
Vishnu Sharma
Rajatarangini
Kalhana
Abhijnanasakuntalam
Kalidasa
Meghaduta
Kalidasa
Raghuvamsa
Kalidasa
Kumarasambhavam
Kalidasa
Malavikagnimitram
Kalidasa
Vikramorvashiyam
Kalidasa
Charaka Samhita
Charaka
Sushruta Samhita
Sushruta
Natyashastra
Bharata Muni
Gita Govinda
Jayadeva
2. Medieval Indian Books and Authors
Book / Work
Author
Akbarnama
Abul Fazl
Ain-i-Akbari
Abul Fazl
Baburnama / Tuzuk-i-Baburi
Babur
Humayun-nama
Gulbadan Begum
Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri
Jahangir
Padmavat
Malik Muhammad Jayasi
Prithviraj Raso
Chand Bardai
Ramcharitmanas
Tulsidas
Vinay Patrika
Tulsidas
Sur Sagar
Surdas
Sursaravali
Surdas
Bijak
Kabir
Guru Granth Sahib
Sikh Gurus
Padshahnama
Abdul Hamid Lahori
Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi
Ziauddin Barani
Kitab-ul-Hind
Al-Biruni
Tabaqat-i-Nasiri
Minhaj-us-Siraj
Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi
Shams-i-Siraj Afif
Important travellers and their books/accounts
Traveller
Work / Account
Al-Biruni
Kitab-ul-Hind
Ibn Battuta
Rihla
Marco Polo
Travels of Marco Polo
François Bernier
Travels in the Mughal Empire
Niccolao Manucci
Storia do Mogor
3. Modern Indian History: Books and Authors
Book
Author
Discovery of India
Jawaharlal Nehru
Glimpses of World History
Jawaharlal Nehru
An Autobiography / Toward Freedom
Jawaharlal Nehru
My Experiments with Truth
Mahatma Gandhi
Hind Swaraj
Mahatma Gandhi
India Wins Freedom
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
Book
Author
India Divided
Rajendra Prasad
Why I Am an Atheist
Bhagat Singh
The Indian Struggle
Subhas Chandra Bose
An Indian Pilgrim
Subhas Chandra Bose
India Since Independence
Bipan Chandra and others
Poverty and Un-British Rule in India
Dadabhai Naoroji
Gulamgiri
Jyotiba Phule
Annihilation of Caste
B. R. Ambedkar
The Problem of the Rupee
B. R. Ambedkar
Pakistan or the Partition of India
B. R. Ambedkar
Thoughts on Pakistan
B. R. Ambedkar
Discovery of India
Jawaharlal Nehru
Unhappy India
Lala Lajpat Rai
Young India
Lala Lajpat Rai
Bandi Jeevan
Sachindra Nath Sanyal
4. Books by Mahatma Gandhi
These are frequently asked in exams:
Book
Author
My Experiments with Truth
Mahatma Gandhi
Hind Swaraj
Mahatma Gandhi
Satyagraha in South Africa
Mahatma Gandhi
Key to Health
Mahatma Gandhi
Constructive Programme
Mahatma Gandhi
From Yeravda Mandir
Mahatma Gandhi
5. Books by Jawaharlal Nehru
Book
Discovery of India
Glimpses of World History
An Autobiography
Letters from a Father to His Daughter
Author: Jawaharlal Nehru
6. Books Related to Indian Politics and Constitution
Book
Author
The Constitution of India
Constituent Assembly / Government of India
India After Gandhi
Ramachandra Guha
Our Constitution
Subhash C. Kashyap
The Argumentative Indian
Amartya Sen
The Idea of Justice
Amartya Sen
Why I Am a Hindu
Shashi Tharoor
An Era of Darkness
Shashi Tharoor
The Case for India
Will Durant
7. Famous Indian Autobiographies and Biographies
Book
Author / Subject
Wings of Fire
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
My Journey
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
Turning Points
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
Playing It My Way
Sachin Tendulkar
Unbreakable
M. C. Mary Kom
Ace Against Odds
Sania Mirza
Straight from the Heart
Kapil Dev
The Race of My Life
Milkha Singh
I Am Malala
Malala Yousafzai
Long Walk to Freedom
Nelson Mandela
My Story
Kamala Das
The Story of My Experiments with Truth
Mahatma Gandhi
Freedom in Exile
Dalai Lama
8. Famous Indian English Literature
Rabindranath Tagore
Book / Work
Gitanjali
Gora
Ghare-Baire
Chokher Bali
The Home and the World
Gitanjali won the Nobel Prize in Literature for Rabindranath Tagore in 1913.
Other Important Authors
Book
Author
God of Small Things
Arundhati Roy
Train to Pakistan
Khushwant Singh
Midnight’s Children
Salman Rushdie
A Suitable Boy
Vikram Seth
The White Tiger
Aravind Adiga
The Guide
R. K. Narayan
Malgudi Days
R. K. Narayan
Untouchable
Mulk Raj Anand
Coolie
Mulk Raj Anand
Kanthapura
Raja Rao
The Inheritance of Loss
Kiran Desai
The Palace of Illusions
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
9. Famous Hindi Literature
Book
Author
Godan
Munshi Premchand
Gaban
Munshi Premchand
Nirmala
Munshi Premchand
Karmabhoomi
Munshi Premchand
Rangbhoomi
Munshi Premchand
Kamayani
Jaishankar Prasad
Madhushala
Harivansh Rai Bachchan
Rashmirathi
Ramdhari Singh Dinkar
Urvashi
Ramdhari Singh Dinkar
Yama
Mahadevi Verma
Bharat Bharati
Maithili Sharan Gupt
Gunahon Ka Devta
Dharamvir Bharati
Andha Yug
Dharamvir Bharati
Raag Darbari
Shrilal Shukla
Maila Anchal
Phanishwar Nath Renu
Aapka Bunty
Mannu Bhandari
Tamas
Bhisham Sahni
10. Famous English Literature and World Classics
Book
Author
Hamlet
William Shakespeare
Macbeth
William Shakespeare
Othello
William Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare
Merchant of Venice
William Shakespeare
Paradise Lost
John Milton
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen
Oliver Twist
Charles Dickens
David Copperfield
Charles Dickens
A Tale of Two Cities
Charles Dickens
The Old Man and the Sea
Ernest Hemingway
The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald
War and Peace
Leo Tolstoy
Anna Karenina
Leo Tolstoy
Crime and Punishment
Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Brothers Karamazov
Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Mark Twain
Robinson Crusoe
Daniel Defoe
Gulliver’s Travels
Jonathan Swift
The Jungle Book
Rudyard Kipling
1984
George Orwell
Animal Farm
George Orwell
The Alchemist
Paulo Coelho
Don Quixote
Miguel de Cervantes
11. Famous Political and Economic Books
Book
Author
The Communist Manifesto
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
Das Kapital
Karl Marx
The Wealth of Nations
Adam Smith
The Republic
Plato
Politics
Aristotle
The Prince
Niccolò Machiavelli
Leviathan
Thomas Hobbes
The Social Contract
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
On the Origin of Species
Charles Darwin
A Brief History of Time
Stephen Hawking
12. Nobel Prize and Famous International Books
Book
Author
The Diary of a Young Girl
Anne Frank
The Story of My Life
Helen Keller
The Old Man and the Sea
Ernest Hemingway
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Gabriel García Márquez
Things Fall Apart
Chinua Achebe
The Kite Runner
Khaled Hosseini
Harry Potter series
J. K. Rowling
The Lord of the Rings
J. R. R. Tolkien
13. Books by Famous Indian Leaders – Quick Revision List
This is particularly useful for SSC, UPSSSC PET, UPSI, UPPCS, Railway, Banking and other competitive exams.
Author
Important Book
Mahatma Gandhi
My Experiments with Truth
Jawaharlal Nehru
Discovery of India
B. R. Ambedkar
Annihilation of Caste
Subhas Chandra Bose
The Indian Struggle
Maulana Azad
India Wins Freedom
Dadabhai Naoroji
Poverty and Un-British Rule in India
Rajendra Prasad
India Divided
Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Gita Rahasya
Lala Lajpat Rai
Unhappy India
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
The Indian War of Independence
Jyotiba Phule
Gulamgiri
Sachindra Nath Sanyal
Bandi Jeevan
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
Wings of Fire
Most Important 25 Books and Authors for Quick GK Revision
If you want to focus only on the most frequently useful exam list, learn these first:
Arthashastra — Kautilya
Indica — Megasthenes
Abhijnanasakuntalam — Kalidasa
Panchatantra — Vishnu Sharma
Rajatarangini — Kalhana
Akbarnama — Abul Fazl
Ain-i-Akbari — Abul Fazl
Baburnama — Babur
Humayun-nama — Gulbadan Begum
Kitab-ul-Hind — Al-Biruni
Gitanjali — Rabindranath Tagore
Godan — Munshi Premchand
Madhushala — Harivansh Rai Bachchan
Rashmirathi — Ramdhari Singh Dinkar
My Experiments with Truth — Mahatma Gandhi
Discovery of India — Jawaharlal Nehru
India Wins Freedom — Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
The Indian Struggle — Subhas Chandra Bose
Annihilation of Caste — B. R. Ambedkar
Poverty and Un-British Rule in India — Dadabhai Naoroji
Wings of Fire — A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
The Wealth of Nations — Adam Smith
The Republic — Plato
The Communist Manifesto — Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels
