Important Books and Authors Notes for Competitive Exams

Questions on books and authors are common in the general awareness section of SSC, banking, railways, defence and state-level examinations, and they also appear in the UPSC Prelims as part of history and culture. A typical question gives the name of a book and asks for its author, or gives the name of an author and asks for the book. This note provides well-organised lists of the most frequently asked books and authors from ancient and medieval India, the freedom struggle, Indian literature, English writing and world classics, with short explanations and memory tricks, in simple language. Revise the tables regularly and add the new releases and awards from the news.

Ancient and Classical Works

Medieval Works

Freedom Struggle and Social Reform

Modern Indian Literature

World Classics and Famous Non-Fiction

Autobiographies and Memoirs to Remember

Autobiographies are a special favourite of question setters. Gandhi wrote "My Experiments with Truth" (originally in Gujarati). Nehru wrote "An Autobiography" (also called "Toward Freedom") during his jail term. Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam wrote "Wings of Fire" with Arun Tiwari. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar's works include "Annihilation of Caste". Subhas Chandra Bose wrote "The Indian Struggle". Helen Keller wrote "The Story of My Life". Malala Yousafzai wrote "I Am Malala". Nelson Mandela wrote "Long Walk to Freedom". Barack Obama wrote "Dreams from My Father" and "A Promised Land". Learn at least ten such pairs with a short story each to make the memory strong.

Epics, Religious Texts and Their Writers

Many questions ask about the author or the language of a text. The Vedas are traditionally four in number: Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda, and they are not attributed to a single author. The Upanishads and the Puranas are also collective traditions. The Manusmriti is a law book of ancient India. The Bhagavad Gita is a part of the Mahabharata, in the Bhishma Parva. The Jataka tales are stories of the previous births of the Buddha, written in Pali. The Dhammapada is a Buddhist text of sayings. The Guru Granth Sahib is the holy book of the Sikhs, compiled by Guru Arjan Dev and finalised by Guru Gobind Singh. The Quran, the Bible and the Tripitaka are the sacred books of Islam, Christianity and Buddhism. These are static facts that appear repeatedly in the examinations.

How to Prepare and Memory Tricks

Group books by era and by theme: ancient (Arthashastra, Indica), medieval (Akbar Nama), freedom struggle (Hind Swaraj, Discovery of India), literature (Godan, Malgudi Days) and world books (The Prince, Das Kapital). Make flashcards with the book on one side and the author on the other. Link authors with a story: Kalhana wrote the history of Kashmir in the Rajatarangini (river of kings); Kalidasa is the poet of nature; Banabhatta was the court poet of Harsha. Remember that some books have a special connection with the freedom struggle: Anandamath gave us the song Vande Mataram. Read short summaries of the major books to remember them better. Keep a list of new books and their authors from the news, since the latest Booker, Jnanpith and Sahitya Akademi winners are often asked.

Regional Language Classics

Several classics of regional languages are asked in the examinations. "Pather Panchali" was written by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay in Bengali and later made into a film by Satyajit Ray. "Devdas" is a novel by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. "Chemmeen" is a Malayalam novel by Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai. "Samskara" is a Kannada novel by U. R. Ananthamurthy. "Raag Darbari" is a Hindi satirical novel by Shrilal Shukla, and "Tamas" is a Hindi novel by Bhisham Sahni about the Partition. "Ponniyin Selvan" by Kalki Krishnamurthy is a famous Tamil historical novel about the Chola period. "Mrityunjay" is an Assamese work, and "Gora" is a Bengali novel by Tagore. Link the book with its language and region, and with the film or award that made it famous. Such links give you a second route to recall the answer.

Pen Names and Famous Fictional Places

Question setters also use pen names. George Orwell was the pen name of Eric Blair, Mark Twain of Samuel Clemens, Lewis Carroll of Charles Dodgson, George Eliot of Mary Ann Evans, and O. Henry of William Sydney Porter. In India, Premchand's real name was Dhanpat Rai. Fictional places linked with authors are also a good topic: Malgudi is the imaginary town of R. K. Narayan's stories, and the world of Lilliput belongs to Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. Knowing such facts helps in matching-type questions in which you have to pair an author with a book, a pen name or a place.

Literary Terms and Their Meanings

A few basic literary words are asked in general awareness and English sections. An autobiography is the story of a person's life written by that person; a biography is written by someone else; a memoir records personal memories; an epic is a long narrative poem about heroes; a sonnet is a 14-line poem; an elegy is a poem of mourning; an ode is a poem of praise; a satire uses humour to criticise society; a fable is a story with animals that teaches a moral; and a novel is a long work of fiction in prose. Understanding these terms helps you decide the type of book in the question.

Practice Matching Set

Try to answer from memory before checking. Match these: Kitab-ul-Hind (Al-Biruni), Gitanjali (Rabindranath Tagore), Madhushala (Harivansh Rai Bachchan), Hind Swaraj (Mahatma Gandhi), Train to Pakistan (Khushwant Singh), The Argumentative Indian (Amartya Sen), Indica (Megasthenes), Mudrarakshasa (Vishakhadatta), Padmavat (Malik Muhammad Jayasi), and Ain-i-Akbari (Abul Fazl). A second set can test the reverse direction: who wrote the Rajatarangini (Kalhana), who is the author of The Life Divine (Sri Aurobindo), who wrote Why I Am an Atheist (Bhagat Singh), and who wrote The White Tiger (Aravind Adiga). Practise both directions, since examiners ask either one. Also revise the awards of authors: Rabindranath Tagore won the Nobel Prize for Gitanjali in 1913, Arundhati Roy won the Booker Prize in 1997, and Geetanjali Shree won the International Booker in 2022. Linking books to awards doubles the chance of remembering the answer.

Quick Revision

• Arthashastra: Kautilya; Indica: Megasthenes; Rajatarangini: Kalhana; Akbar Nama: Abul Fazl.
• Discovery of India: Nehru; Hind Swaraj: Gandhi; Annihilation of Caste: Ambedkar; Wings of Fire: Kalam.
• The Prince: Machiavelli; Das Kapital: Marx; Wealth of Nations: Adam Smith.

Books and authors are a matter of revision and association. Spend ten minutes daily on a few rows of the tables, and you will quickly build a strong memory for this section.

Related Notes to Read Next

Continue your preparation with these related notes from the same subject:

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• All General Awareness notes

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Who wrote the Arthashastra?

The Arthashastra was written by Kautilya, also known as Chanakya, the minister of Chandragupta Maurya.

Who wrote Rajatarangini?

The Rajatarangini, a history of the kings of Kashmir, was written by Kalhana.

Who is the author of the Discovery of India?

Jawaharlal Nehru wrote The Discovery of India while he was in Ahmednagar Fort prison.

Who wrote My Experiments with Truth?

Mahatma Gandhi wrote My Experiments with Truth, his autobiography.

Who wrote Wings of Fire?

Wings of Fire is the autobiography of Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, written with Arun Tiwari.

Which book contains the song Vande Mataram?

The novel Anandamath by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee contains the song Vande Mataram.

Who wrote The God of Small Things?

Arundhati Roy wrote The God of Small Things, which won the Booker Prize in 1997.

Who is the author of Akbar Nama?

Abul Fazl, a courtier of Emperor Akbar, wrote the Akbar Nama and the Ain-i-Akbari.

Who wrote Annihilation of Caste?

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar wrote Annihilation of Caste.

Who wrote Indica?

Indica was written by Megasthenes, a Greek ambassador at the court of Chandragupta Maurya.

Who wrote The Wealth of Nations?

Adam Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations in 1776.

How can I remember books and authors easily?

Group them by era and theme, use flashcards, link each author with a short story and revise a few rows every day.