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Books & Authors
Books & Authors questions test recognition of canonical Indian and world books. Group your prep: classical Sanskrit/Hindi works, modern English-Indian authors, autobiographies of leaders, and recent Booker/Nobel-winning titles.
Why this matters: 1 question is common in SSC GA. Banking and Defence exams favour autobiographies and recent prize winners.
Famous Indian books and authors
| Book | Author |
|---|---|
| Discovery of India | Jawaharlal Nehru |
| My Experiments with Truth | M.K. Gandhi |
| The Story of My Life | M.K. Gandhi (different vol.) |
| Wings of Fire | A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (with Arun Tiwari) |
| India Wins Freedom | Maulana Abul Kalam Azad |
| Geet Govinda | Jayadeva |
| Arthashastra | Kautilya (Chanakya) |
| Raghuvansham / Meghdoot | Kalidasa |
| Gitanjali | Rabindranath Tagore |
| Panchatantra | Vishnu Sharma |
| Train to Pakistan | Khushwant Singh |
| Midnight's Children | Salman Rushdie |
| The God of Small Things | Arundhati Roy |
| A Suitable Boy | Vikram Seth |
| The White Tiger | Aravind Adiga |
| The Inheritance of Loss | Kiran Desai |
| Indian Summer | Alex von Tunzelmann |
| Pather Panchali | Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay |
Foreign classics
| Book | Author |
|---|---|
| War and Peace | Leo Tolstoy |
| Crime and Punishment | Fyodor Dostoevsky |
| Hamlet / Macbeth | William Shakespeare |
| Pride and Prejudice | Jane Austen |
| 1984 / Animal Farm | George Orwell |
| The Old Man and the Sea | Ernest Hemingway |
| Origin of Species | Charles Darwin |
| Das Kapital | Karl Marx |
| Wealth of Nations | Adam Smith |
Quick Revision Facts
- Gitanjali (Rabindranath Tagore) won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913.
- Arthashastra is a treatise on statecraft and economics by Kautilya.
- Wings of Fire is the autobiography of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
- The Discovery of India was written by Pt. Nehru while imprisoned in Ahmednagar Fort.
- Midnight's Children won the Booker Prize (1981) and the 'Booker of Bookers' (1993).
- The God of Small Things won Arundhati Roy the Booker Prize in 1997.
- India Wins Freedom is the autobiography of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.
- Panchatantra is among the oldest fable collections in world literature.
Quick Quiz — Books & Authors
5 random questions from our bank. Refresh or retake for a new set.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who wrote 'Discovery of India'?
Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, while imprisoned at Ahmednagar Fort during 1942–46.
Whose autobiography is 'Wings of Fire'?
Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (co-written with Arun Tiwari).
Who wrote Arthashastra?
Kautilya, also known as Chanakya or Vishnugupta.
Who is the author of 'The God of Small Things'?
Arundhati Roy — Booker Prize winner, 1997.
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