If a beginner had only one book to study chess from, what book would you recommend it be?

Fred Reinfeld openings book. Start from the beginning and give the beginner enough material but not too much. Beginners like openings so start in their wheelhouse, lead them into middlegames next.

Silman's complete endgame course.
Chess tactics from scratch - Weteschnik.
For a complete course:
The Step-by-step method - Rob Brunia and Cor van Wijgerden
Yusupov's 9 (now 10) volume chess course (Quality chess).

I found Polgar's book, Chess Tactics for Champions, very enjoyable because it was not too hard while still being challenging enough for me. I'm not a beginner anymore though, and, really, I don't think a tactics book is right for a beginner. They're too one-dimensional - tactics.

I agree with the the poster that mentioned Seirawan. His book Winning Chess Openings will get you started and it's got a wonderful little introduction.

Only one book? Ok. You must to read "My sistem", from A. Nimzovich.

I started a similar thread recently, and the chess authors that were recommended to me were: Aagaard, Watson, Dvoretski, Kasparov, and Rowson (titles: 7 Sins & Zebras). Unfortunately no titles were recommended, besides the two from Rowson.

I have enjoyed Silman's "The Amateur's Mind" so far. The chapter on bishops vs. knights, for instance, was very helpful for a beginner, and I especially like how it is arranged around important themes instead of puzzles and openings.

Moby Dick because you want to be a whale, not a fish.

I recommend the book Logical Chess Move by move, by Irving Chernev. Amazing book, only thing is that it is written in english descriptive notation

@archie1099 There is an updated version with algebraic notation!

@KaizaCorp thanks for the info, i didnt know that :)

I recommend Chess Fundamentals by J.R. Capablanca. Originally written in descriptive notation, this is also available in algebraic (modern) notation. Starts at the very beginning but includes enough to take you to quite a good level, including plenty of wisdom on the endgame.