How to start preparation for UPSC Civil Services Exam ?

• Whenever you begin preparation firstly go through the syllabus(Prelims and Mains) and go through past year papers of UPSC so that you will get an idea of what actually UPSC expects from you and could get a trend of the exams
• Next thing you need to do studies NCERTs and do writing practice.
• Prefereence should given to buy OLD NCERTS which are according to old syllabus as they are more relevant to UPSC studies. Here is the list of must do NCERTs.
• Books recommended by CSE Toppers.

UPSC Prelims (ENGLISH MEDIUM) Books 

UPSC Prelims (HINDI MEDIUM) Books 

Books Recommended by CSE-2016 and CSE-2017 UPSC Toppers

History – Must Read NCERT Books

• —6th – Our Pasts 1
• —7th – Our Pasts II
• —8th – Our Pasts III – Part 1, Part 2
• —9th – India & the Contemporary World 1
• —10th – India & the Contemporary World II
• —11th – Themes in World History (Focus on –Industrial Revolution)
• —12th – Themes in Indian History I, Themes in Indian History II, Themes in Indian History III.

Geography – Must Read NCERT Books

• —6th – The Earth : Our Habitat
• —7th – Our Environment
• —8th – Resources & Development
• —9th – Contemporary India 1
• —10th – Contemporary India 1I
• —11th – Fundamentals of Physical Geography, —11th – India – Physical Environment
• —12th – Fundamentals of Human Geography, —12th – India – People & Economy

Economics – Must Read NCERT Books

• —9th – Economics
• —10th – Understanding Economic Development
• —11th – Indian Economic Development
• —12th – Introductory Microeconomics
• —12th – Introductory Macroeconomics, —Class XII – Supplementary reading material in Economics – Introductory Macroeconomics.

Political Science – Must Read NCERT Books

• —9th – Democratic Politics I
• —10th – Democratic Politics II
• —11th – Indian Constitution at Work
• —11th – Political Theory
• —12th – Contemporary World Politics (–8th – Environment & Natural Resources)
• —12th – Politics in India Since Independence.

Sociology – Must Read NCERT Books

• —12th – Social Change & Development in India

Culture/Fine Arts – Must Read NCERT Books

• —11th – An Introduction to Indian Art.

Science – Must Read NCERT Books

• —6th – ?9: The Living Organisms & their Surroundings
• —7th – ?7: Weather, Climate & Adaptations of Animals, ?9: Soil
• —8th – ?1: Crop Production & Management, ?5: Coal & Petroleum, ?7: Conservation of Plants & Animals, ?12:  Friction, ?18: Pollution of Air & Water
• —9th – ?14: Natural Resources
• —10th – ?14: Sources of Energy, ?15: Our Environment, ?16: Management of Natural Resources
• —12th (Biology) – ?Unit X: Ecology (13 – Organisms & Population, 14 – Ecosystem, 15 – Biodiversity & Conservation, 16 – Environmental Issues).

After NCERT is done you can dig deep into the OCEAN,

UPSC Prelims (ENGLISH MEDIUM) Books 

UPSC Prelims (HINDI MEDIUM) Books 

Books Recommended by CSE-2016 and CSE-2017 UPSC Toppers

• History – for history you can do Modern Spectrum RAJIV AHIR for prelims …apart from that one can also prefer GROVER for MAINS …u need extensive reading …sky is the limit …still you can go for BIPAN CHANDRA Part 1 and Part 2 ….India before Gandhi and India After Gandhi by Ramchandra Guha could be done. World history can be done through Unacademy videos and Vision handouts.
• Geography for prelims Geography …one can do GC Leong ISC certified Physical geography …and a good ATLAS of Penguin publications should be referred ….for Mains NCERT will be suffice.

• Economics: for Economics prelims i recommend SRIRAM IAS notes along with Ramesh Singh of Tata Mcgraw Hill publications. for Eco Mains ..having hold on newspaper is very important …i would recommending following Economic Times or Business Standard or Mint (selective reading)

• Political Science: for Polity …Laxmikant is the Bible …need to done byheart …20 readings minimum for Prelims for Mains i would recommend visiting prsindia.org for continuous tracking of all kinds of legislation proposed,drafted and passed in Parliament along with reports of various Committee reports ….. along with this reading newspaper editorials relating to Consitution, Judicial court judgements, etc need to be studied
• Sociology for GS MAINS following books are recommended
• Indian Society – Ram Ahuja
• Social Problems in India – Ram Ahuja
• Fine Arts for culture i would recommend referring to CCRT website, NIOS culture notes are good and current culture events should also tracked selectively. Also NITIN SINGHANIA notes on culture are handy.
• Science for Mains , emphasis must be given on current science events lke achievements of ISRO , inventions by BARC,DRDO and various Indian institutes…apart from this ‘major’ international inventions and discoveries must also be tracked