From the UPSC exam perspective, I recommend UPSC aspirants to depend on Modern Indian History by Sonali Bansal and Snehil Tripathi for preparation. Even though a bit heavy, this book is highly reader-friendly and helps aspirants cover priority topics for Prelims and Mains in an orderly fashion...
IGNOU HISTORY Study Notes for IAS, UPSC ExamsModern India 1857-1964Structure19.0 Objectives 19.1 Introduction 19.2 Material and Social Basis of Production 19.3 Agriculture and Land Revenue 19.3.1 General Features of Agrarian Economy 19.3.2 Land Revenue Organisation 19.4 Trade and Towns 19.4.1 ...