Are you searching for the best general knowledge books for competitive exams? Do you want to know which GK book covers all those topics that are essential for your upcoming exam? Keep reading this article!
General knowledge is a common part of every job exam & interview. It covers a wide variety of subjects like arts, science, literature, history, geography, banking, finance, politics, games & other topics. If you’re using the right & best book for general awareness improvement, you need not bother about the preparation strategies that you should adopt. Everything will become so easy to learn, and you can just see the improvement in your marks.
Our Top Picks :
Overall Best – GENERAL STUDIES Manual 2024 |GS Paper 1 | UPSC | Civil Services Prelim | Other State Examinations
GENERAL STUDIES Manual 2024 is a General Knowledge book useful for the UPSC and State Public Service Commission Examination. It includes a detailed description of topics and subject-wise mock test questions answers.
Most Popular – Lucent’s General Knowledge with General Science
Lucent’s GK is one of the most popular general knowledge books for all types of competitive exams in India. This bundle package comes with Lucent’s General Knowledge and Lucent’s General Science.
Best GK book for all Competitive Exams – Concise General Knowledge Manual 2023
CONCISE GENERAL KNOWLEDGE MANUAL written by Edgar Thorpe and Showick Thorpe and published by Pearson. It covers both static GK and current affairs for all competitive exams, including UPSC, SSC, IBPS Banking, Railways and other Central and State Recruitment exams.
In the list, we have covered some of the best GK books from well-known and best publications and authors like McGraw Hill, Lucent General Knowledge Objective, Pearson, Manohar Pandey, Kiran & Arihant.
Summary of the Best General Knowledge (GK) Books for Competitive Exams
For your quick view, here is the list of the best GK books for competitive exams with publication names and prices.
| Item No. | Book Name | Publication & Price |
| 1 | GENERAL STUDIES Manual 2024 |GS Paper 1 | UPSC | Civil Services Prelim | Other State Examinations | McGraw Hill ₹1,297 |
| 2 | Lucent’s General Knowledge with General Science | Lucent Publication ₹383 |
| 3 | Concise General Knowledge Manual 2023 | Pearson ₹178 |
| 4 | 10000+ Objective General Studies MCQs with 100% Explanatory Notes | Disha Experts ₹619 |
| 5 | 14000+ Chapterwise Questions Objective General Studies | Manohar Pandey ₹350 |
| 6 | One Liner Approach General Knowledge | Kiran Experts ₹180 |
| 7 | General Knowledge 2022 | Arihant ₹190 |
There are many popular general knowledge books available online and in the market which are able to boost your general awareness and give you guaranteed improvement in your results.
Review of Best General Knowledge Books for Competitive Exams
We have picked the 7 best general knowledge books you should read in 2023.
1. GENERAL STUDIES Manual 2024 |GS Paper 1 | UPSC | Civil Services Prelim | Other State Examinations
General Studies Paper 1 2024 for Civil Services Preliminary Examination and State Examinations is a book by McGraw Hill Education for civil service preliminary & other state-level exams. It contains the most current trends and facts with well-explained content and questions and answers. This book is thoroughly revised and updated with study materials for UPSC prelims and other competitive exams. The most interesting part is that each section of this book is written by expert authors.
About the Authors:
- History of India and Indian National Movement – Dr Shubha Parmar
- Indian and World Geography – Dr Surender Singh
- Indian Polity and Governance – M Karthikeyan
- Economic and Social Development – C K Ramachandran
- Environmental Ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change – Dr Surender Singh, Dr G N Dixit ,Dr Anjana Sagar ,Dr Manoj Nimesh ,Dr Shabnam Johry
- General Science – Dr Shagufta Bano Hussain ,Dr G N Dixit ,Dr Anjana Sagar ,Dr Manoj Nimesh ,Dr V S Parmar
- General Knowledge and Current Events – Rajiv Mehrishi
Key Parts of this Book:
- Static GK and Current Affairs.
- Well-explained concepts for easy memorisation.
- UPSC Prelims 2023 Solved Papers & Mock Test Papers with Solutions.
- Written by McGraw Hill authors.
2. Lucent’s General Knowledge with General Science
Lucent general knowledge book is one of the most popular & best books for general awareness improvement for any kind of competitive exams including; UPSC, SSC, PSC, Banking, Railway, & Other. In this book, you will get only important topics that are useful for your exams. The content of this book covers almost everything from basic to advanced gk with short explanation & tabular form. It covers history, geography, computer, biology, chemistry, geography, polity, economy, & other various miscellaneous topics.
Key Parts of this Book:
- User-friendly Indexation of contents.
- Great content representation that is easy to remember with short description & tabular form.
- Good quality cover & printing.
- Important for all kinds of competitive exams.
3. Concise General Knowledge Manual 2023
Concise General Knowledge Manual 2023 is a great tool in hand for competitive exam aspirants. This book is published by Pearson Education and written by Edgar Thorpe and Showick Thorpe, expert authors on competitive exams. It is a completely revised & restructured version published for preparing for exams like UPSC, SSC, Railway Exam, Banking & other Central and State Recruitment Exams in less time. The content of this book is well structured in tabular forms for easy memorization. All the subjects, including Indian History, Politics, Economy, Geography, Science, Technology, Computers, Basic General Knowledge, and Current Events, are deeply covered. This is one of the best general knowledge books for competitive exams and entrance tests in India.
Key Parts of this Book:
- This book takes relatively less time to prepare for competitive exams.
- Fact based lessons to prepare students for any competitive exams
- It has well-structured and tabulated content for easy reading.
- More than 3,000 MCQ-type questions are available online.
- QR codes are provided for each chapter to get detailed information.
- Good quality of pages & printing.
- All topics are deeply covered.
4. General Studies – 10000+ Objective MCQs
General Studies is one of the most popular gk books published by Disha Publication. It is the 4th edition of the book which contains 10000+ Objective MCQ questions answers with an explanation for general awareness. This edition is updated with the most important and latest questions related to UPSC, SSC, PSC, RRB, IBPS, BANKING, & other exams. It contains 8 main sections (General Knowledge, History, Geography, Polity, Economics, Science & Technology, Ecology, & Current Affairs) which are further divided into chapters containing a total of 10,000 updates questions answers for practice & revision purposes. All the questions are designed based on the previous exam questions pattern.
Key Parts of this Book:
- All updated content & outdated questions are removed.
- Subject wise questions and answers.
- Detailed explanation notes for each question to clear doubts.
- Best gk book for UPSC exams & other competitive exams.
- Good quality printing & page.
5. 14000 + Objective Questions – General Studies
This book comes with the most ready & reliable general studies material for competitive exam aspirants published by Arihant Publications. Whether you are preparing for IAS (CSAT), State PCS, CDS, NDA this smart gk book covers all the important topics like; Indian History, Science, Culture, Geography, Polity, Economy, General Science, & technology which are important for any type of competitive exams in India. This book includes more than 14000 questions & answers which covered previous year questions and other similar types of questions asked in previous job exams. The questions are designed very intelligently with pattern matching, multi-statements, arrangements, pairing, & others to boost aspirant’s knowledge about things. And the best part of this book is, within the 14,000 questions, 500 questions are based on current events & affairs.
Key Parts of this Book:
- Questions are well designed.
- Revised & Updated Content
- Bank focus general knowledge book.
- Good quality printing & pages.
6. One Liner Approach General Knowledge
One Liner approach General Knowledge is a gk dictionary book by Kiran Prakashan. This book is beneficial for all types of competitive exams especially IBPS Bank Exams, SSC, & Railway Exams. It contains all the important topics including; Indian & World History, Geography, Constitution, Politics, Economy, Science, Environment, Computer Knowledge, Arts, Movies, Milestones, & others. This book is available in double color.
Key Parts of this Book:
- Comprises important facts.
- Highlighted keywords with red color also pictures are given when needed.
- Best gk book for SSC Preparation.
- Good printing quality & pages.
7. General Knowledge 2022
General Knowledge 2022 is an updated gk book by Arihant Publications and they called it a complete general knowledge book for the preparation of various competitive exams including; SSC, BANKING/IBPS, Railway, Police, NDA/CDS & other exams. This book covers most of the key topics including; General Knowledge, General Science, History, Geography, Indian Politics, Indian Economy, Latest Facts, & Current Affairs.
Key Parts of this Book:
- Highly useful section on current affairs at the beginning.
- Covers all the key general knowledge subjects.
- Helpful to tackle the questions asked from numerous areas.
- This book contains very latest and updated info.
FAQ: Best General Knowledge (GK) Books For Competitive Exams
Q1. Which is the best GK book for competitive exams?
The best general knowledge books for all types of competitive exams are;
- GENERAL STUDIES Manual for UPSC by McGraw Hill Education
- Lucent’s General Knowledge
- Concise General Knowledge Manual by Pearson
Q2. Is Lucent general knowledge objective book the best GK book for all types of competitive exams?
Lucent General Knowledge book covers subject-wise GK facts, one-liners, lists, and other important GK topics in tabular form. It is a good book for all types of competitive exams including UPSC Civil Services, CDS, NDA, RRBs, IFS, Bank, LIC, SSC, RBI and other entrance examinations for MBA, MCA, BCA, BBA, etc.
Q3. Which is the best GK book for UPSC Civil Services Examination?
GENERAL STUDIES Manual by McGraw Hill Education is the best UPSC general knowledge book for beginners to advanced readers.
Q4. Does General Knowledge books cover current affairs?
Most general knowledge books cover current affairs updates on various topics including sports, politics, science, invention, and more. But, some books cover only Static GK facts for competitive exams. You should check the summary of the book before to make sure.
Q5. Which is the best static GK book in India?
Lucent’s General Knowledge is the best static GK book that is suitable for the preparation of all types of competitive exams in India.
Q6. Which is the best GS book for all competitive exams?
Lucent’s General Science book is a comprehensive guide book for aspirants who want to boost their preparation for UPSC, SSC, PSC, NDA, Railway and other state-level exams. The book combines social science and pure science and demonstrates topics with illustrations, tables, and figures.
Q7. Which is the best book for SSC CGL general awareness preparation?
The SSC Combined Graduate Level (CGL) examination needs a thorough preparation of each general knowledge topic. GENERAL STUDIES Manual by McGraw Hill Education covers all important subjects including History, Geography, Science, Politics, Economy, and others in detail.
Q8. Which is the best GK book in Hindi?
Lucent’s General Knowledge Samanya Gyaan Hindi is the best general knowledge book in India. You can also choose the GK Samanya Gyan by Dhankar Book for general knowledge preparation.
