UPSC Books for English Literature Optional Subject

English Literature is one of the UPSC optional papers included in the list of optional subjects. The UPSC syllabus for English literature is vast and covers topics from the old English to modern English from 1900 AD onwards. For literature graduates, English Literature optional paper is the safest option among optional subjects. For a solid preparation, the aspirants require a thorough reading of novels, poetry and so on mentioned in the English Literature optional syllabus. Here are some of the best IAS books for reference that help the candidate secure a high score on the optional paper. 

Best IAS books for English Literature Optional Paper : 

• Introduction to English Literature by W. H Hudson
• The Routledge History of Literature in English
• A Short History of English Literature (Pramod K. Nayar)
• King Lear- William Shakespeare
• The Tempest- William Shakespeare
• Canonization- John Donne
• Death be not proud- John Donne
• The Good Morrow- John Donne
• On his Mistress going to bed-John Donne
• The relic- John Donne
• Paradise Lost, I, II, IV, IX- John Milton
• The Rape of the Lock- Alexander Pope
• Ode on Intimations of Immortality- William Wordsworth
• Tintern Abbey-William Wordsworth
• Three years she grew-William Wordsworth
• She dwelt among untrodden ways-William Wordsworth
• Michael-William Wordsworth
• Resolution and Independence- William Wordsworth
• The World is too much with us-William Wordsworth
• Milton, thou shouldst be living at this hour-William Wordsworth
• Upon Westminster Bridge-William Wordsworth
• Gulliver’s Travels-Jonathan Swift
• Pride and Prejudice-Jane Austen
• Tom Jones-Henry Fielding
• Hard Times- Charles Dickens
• The Mill on the Floss-George Eliot
• Tess of the d’Urbervilles- Thomas Hardy
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn- Mark Twain
• Easter 1916- William Butler Yeats
• The Second Coming-William Butler Yeats
• A Prayer for my daughter-William Butler Yeats
• Sailing to Byzantium-William Butler Yeats
• The Tower-William Butler Yeats
• Among School Children-William Butler Yeats
• Leda and the Swan-William Butler Yeats
• Meru-William Butler Yeats
• Lapis Lazuli-William Butler Yeats
• The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock- T. S. Eliot
• Journey of the Magi-T. S. Eliot
• Burnt Norton-T. S. Eliot
• Partition- W.H. Auden
• Musee des Beaux Arts-W.H. Auden
• In Memory of W.B. Yeats-W.H. Auden
• Lay your sleeping head, my love-W.H. Auden
• The Unknown Citizen-W.H. Auden
• Consider-W.H. Auden
• Mundus Et Infans-W.H. Auden
• The Shield of Achilles-W.H. Auden
• Look In Anger-John Osborne
• Waiting for Godot-Samuel Beckett
• Next- Philip Larkin
• Please-Philip Larkin
• Deceptions-Philip Larkin
• Afternoons-Philip Larkin
• Days-Philip Larkin
• Bleaney-Philip Larkin
• Looking for a Causim on a Swing-A.K. Ramanujan
• A River-A.K. Ramanujan
• Of Mothers, among other Things-A.K. Ramanujan
• Love Poem for a Wife 1-A.K. Ramanujan
• Small-Scale Reflections on a Great House-A.K. Ramanujan
• Obituary-A.K. Ramanujan
• Lord Jim-Joseph Conrad
• Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man-James Joyce
• Sons and Lovers-D.H. Lawrence
• A Passage to India- E.M. Forster.
• Mrs Dalloway- Virginia Woolf.
• Kanthapura-Raja Rao
• A House for Mr. Biswas- V.S. Naipal