CSS or Central Superior Services is a competitive exam. It is commenced by FPSC. We have seen that awareness among people regarding CSS exams is increasing day by day. In the last exams, there were more than 39000 candidates that registered for CE-2020. Preparation of the CSS exams could be a tiresome task. You need to stick to it for a long time if you want to clear them. Well, there are a total of 12 papers in CSS. Among them 6 are compulsory and the rest of the 6 papers are optional. You can select optional papers from the table given by the FPSC. Our previous article Preparing your CSS and PMS exams was related to the basics of CSS. In this article, I will tell you about the Books you must study for CSS exams.
Note that in this article, we will discuss the books for each paper. We will cover all the books that you must study for compulsory papers. Whereas, we will also cover some optional papers as well.
Books For Compulsory Subjects
Well, here are some of the books for compulsory subjects.
1. English Essay
Well, English Essay is a very versatile subject. The majority of the candidates fail in this subject. There is not any specific book for English essays. Although, you have to study the material online. Wikipedia is one the best source of this. Moreover, one of the best books that I have gone through for CSS English Essay Paper is “Winning Essays” written by Zafar S. Chaanga. This book is published by Jahangir’s World Times.
2. English Precis & Composition
English Precis & Composition is also one of the most failed subjects in CSS. The precis paper compromised of different topics. You need to prepare Precis, Composition, Antonyms and Synonyms, Translation, Pair of Words, and Direct & Indirect speech. To prepare this paper you must study a book name “English Grammer & Composition” by Wren n Martin. This is a good book and for translation, you can take any local book.
3. Current Affairs
For current affairs, you need to study a lot of different books. First of all, you have to start with Jahangir’s World Times Magazine. This magazine is published every month. You should purchase this magazine every month. This will also help you with English paper. In addition to this magazine, you must study the following books as well.
- Pakistan’s Foreign Policy 1947-2016: A concise history by Abdul Sattar
- Pakistan’s Foreign Policy: A Reappraisal by Shahid M. Amin
Both of these books cover the whole history of Pakistan with regard to Foreign Policy. In addition to these books, you must also start reading the newspaper. Any English newspaper will be okay, however, Dawn is a better option.
4. Pakistan Affair
Pakistan Affairs is mostly related to the history of Pakitan. The candidate must have complete knowledge from 712 AD which is the time of Muhammad Bin Qasim. For this, you can take JWT notes for Pakistan by Salman Kazmi. Moreover, you can also study the following books.
- Pakistan Affairs by M. Ikram Rabbani
- Pakistan And World Affairs by Shamshad Ahmad.
- Modern South Asia History, Culture, Political Economy by Sugata Bose and Ayesha Jalal
You must study the second book. It has a difficult wording, however, it covers almost whole content. It is not compulsory to read the third book, although, to gain the knowledge you must also study it.
5. General Knowledge
This subject consists of Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Sciences, Computer Sciences along with logical and analytical skills. One of the best books to prepare this subject is General Science & Ability written by Mian Shafiq. I would say it covers all the topic and it is enough for the preparation of this paper.
6. Islamiat
The candidate has an option to opt for Islamiat in English or in Urdu during the paper. Well to prepare Islamiat one of the best books is by Hafiz Karim Dad Chugtai. It is published by Carvan book house and you can find it easily on any bookshop.
Books For Optional Subjects
Well, we are not going to cover all of the optional subjects. We will cover only a few of them.
1. History of US
One of the most opted subjects by the candidates is the History of the US. There are many books on this subject. You can also take online lectures that are available on Youtube. For reference one of the best books is To the point History of the USA by Umair Khan. Moreover, there are online notes available on the internet by National Officers Academy.
2. International Law
International Law is also among the most opted subjects bu the candidates. The best book for International Law is by SK Kapoor. You can find most of the material from that book. Moreover, some topics are not covered by this book, you can read them online.
3. Psychology
Psychology is although not opted by many students but it is a good subject. There are two books that you should study for this paper. The first one is Psychology by Ciccarelli and Meyers. The Majority of your topics will be covered in this book. The second book is Abnormal Psychology by Ann M. Kring, Gerald C. Davison, John M. Neale, and Sheri L. Jhonson
4. Environmental Science
Just like Psychology, environmental Sciences is also not opted by many students. Although it is an easy and scoring subject. You have to study from the past papers and there are two reference books. The first one is Environmental Sciences by Botkins and the second book is To the point Environmental Sciences written by Hassan Ali Gondal and Abida Shaheen.
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