Summary
Highlights
The speaker contrasts UPSC with other competitive exams, noting that there isn't a fixed set of books for UPSC, leading to confusion. He emphasizes that the syllabus is subjective, meaning there's no limit to how much one can read. The provided booklist is the bare minimum, not the maximum, and more reading can lead to better results. The recommended study order is: foundation subjects (Geography, Polity, Economy, History), then Mains-specific topics, and finally Prelims-specific subjects.
For Polity, the recommended books are Class 11th NCERT 'Indian Constitution at Work' (for basics), followed by M. Laxmikanth's 'Indian Polity' (primarily Prelims-oriented), and then Class 11th NCERT 'Political Theory' (to clarify political concepts). Sarthi IAS foundation course students can rely on their notes, which are more than sufficient.
Geography requires four fundamental books: Class 11th NCERT 'Fundamentals of Physical Geography' (first read, with G.C. Leong's 'Certificate Physical and Human Geography' as a reference, particularly Part 1), then Class 11th NCERT 'India Physical Environment' (for Indian Physical Geography), Class 12th NCERT 'Fundamentals of Human Geography', and finally Class 12th NCERT 'India People and Economy' (linking with Economy concepts as data in these books might be outdated).
For Modern History, 'Spectrum: A Brief History of Modern India' is a common choice, but the speaker notes its expanding size. He recommends using Sarthi IAS notes, available for free on his website (drshivin.com, under Free Resources -> Modern History Notes Part 1 & 2), as they cover everything in Spectrum and are well-formatted. He advises focusing on content up to India's independence and skipping Post-Independence chapters for this subject.
For Economy, standard resources are lacking. The speaker recommends his complete set of handwritten Economy notes, available for free on his website (drshivin.com, under Free Resources -> Economy Complete Notes). For GS3 Mains, which covers diverse topics like Internal Security, Agriculture, Environment, Disaster Management, Science & Tech, and Economy, he provides his personally written and designed handouts and one-page notes for quick revision, also on his website (drshivin.com, under GS3 Mains). He cautions that GS3 is current affairs-based, so static notes need regular updates.
For GS2, beyond the foundation Polity books, a higher level of analytical content for Governance and Social Justice is needed. He recommends M. Puri Sir's notes (available on drshivin.com, under GS2 Notes) to supplement Laxmikanth. For GS1, the Modern History and Physical Geography notes already discussed are sufficient. For World History, his notes are available on his website. Essay preparation does not require specific books; studying previous year toppers' essays is recommended.
For Ancient, Medieval, Art & Culture, read Class 11th & 12th New NCERTs ('Themes in Indian History' Part 1 & 2) and Nitin Singhania's book, supplemented by his notes on maps and one-word terms on his website. For Society, Varun Jain Sir's notes (on his website) or Class 11th & 12th Sociology NCERTs are good options. For Science & Tech and Environment, he strongly recommends his full YouTube playlist lectures, along with all presentation slides and one-page notes available on his website (drshivin.com, under Science & Tech and Environment sections). He emphasizes covering the static portion first to understand current affairs.
The speaker reiterates the three-phase study approach: (1) Foundation subjects (Geography, Polity, Economy, History), (2) Mains subjects in the order of GS4, GS3, GS2, GS1 (Essays can be deferred), and (3) Prelims-specific subjects (Science & Tech, Environment, Ancient, Medieval, Art & Culture). He emphasizes the free resources available on his website to aid preparation.