Which book on the ideas in chess openings?

I am looking for w a good (one-volume) book on chess openings. More particularly,

- I'd like it to cover all sensible openings (I don't want it to be a biased choice)

- I strongly prefer narrative to tables with millions of variations (like in Modern Chess Openings or Nunn Chess Openings)

- I am looking for ideas behind the openings rather than dozens of variations - for understanding rather than learning by heart (but I'd like the book to cover the most important lines, obviously).

My two shortlisted titles are:

- 'Fundamental Chess Openings' by Van der Sterren

- 'Ideas Behind the Chess Openings' by Fine

Which one should I choose? (or, maybe, there is something better?)

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I would buy John Watsons modern openings book(s). They are really helpful, instructive and easy to understand. Its not a book where you just learn some moves without the ideas behind them.

Thank you very much. Would the books by Watson be a bit to advanced for a below-1600 player (which I think I am)?

The Watson books are great - volume 1 for e4, volume 2 for d4. I also got Lars Schannandorf's book on d4 as a supplementary because it's good to get a second opinion....I'm sure there are also similar books on e4 systems. Also, Watson will breeze by a lot of sidelines and say "This isn't very good, but it's played" - these will give you a lot of great ideas for what to study to develop your repertoire further. 

Another thing is to pick a few players to sort of 'follow'....find some people with a style suited to the kind of chess you like to play, memorize some of their games, and try to figure out how they're using the opening moves to compliment their middlegames

I dont think so, I studied them when I was 1400. They are really good to understand

I must add my praise of Alison Hart's post to your question the second paragraph on following a masters games is a great post and gets my vote i follow Tal ,Fischer and Kasparov  all for different styles /reasons i would advise Fischer as he is very classical in his approach and you can learn alot from his style

Thank you very much for your detailed responses. I think I will go for the Watson's, even though it may be a bit too "high-level" for me now and also it may take me some time before I can afford buying all 4 volumes.

Do you have any comments on Van der Sterren and/or Fine - these are 1-volume and considerably cheaper (when bought used)?

I've never read that book specifically, but Van der Sterren looks like it's a comprehensive opening book. This basically means three things (1) It has everything, so you'll not have to go out and buy a new book every time you want ot learn a new opening (2) It has everything, so presumably it isn't biased toward white's perspective - again saving you from buying more books (3) It has everything, so it doesn't study anything in detail - you'll need to be careful that you aren't allowing some dreaded sideline that the book doesn't cover. 

I like to specialize, so I committed early to a handful of opening ideas and have been trying to keep my study focused on those. But I don't know that there's anything wrong with a generalist approach - studying EVERYTHING and then making an informed decision rather than just jumping in with both feet and saying "I like the Dutch!" 

For a one-volume book I recommend Understanding the Chess Openings by Sam Collins.

John Watson's four-volume Mastering the Chess Openings is also excellent; it's more comprehensive though not necessarily more advanced.

Agree Tamburro's book is good, though it is more of a repertoire type book than the comprehensive survey that OP wanted.

Single volume, choice between FCO and Fine - FCO without any qualms. It is much more up-to-date than Fine's book.

I do on Van der Sterren: I own it, and I love it. It explains a lot and gives excellent overviews of the many reasonable openings. I would highly recommend FCO as a first reference on openings to all players especially weaker / newer players who have not yet studied any openings in earnest.

Since no one else has commented on Fine's book, I'll mention the obvious, that it is pretty old and so outdated on some openings. OTOH I profited from it years ago as it was one of my first two chess books and I thought it was quite helpful, and still think highly of the book. You'll have a pretty good idea of what's outdated when you hear him unequivocally pan an opening that you know has become fairly popular (I can't remember a specific example as it's been some time since I browsed my copy).

First chess openings by Eric Schiller is the perfect book for you mate.

Fine is alright, but theory has advanced so much since it was written (KID, Gruenfeld, French, Sicilian) that the specific lines are way outdated.  Plus, the copy I have is written in DN, which is a turn-off for most players (I prefer it, myself).  The over-all theory (Ruy Lopez, QG, Alekhines) is still valid, but the book is mainly good for knowing what had been played, as opposed to what is now played.  It might get you some wins in playing old lines or traps that modern theory devotees would not know about, but in the long run may hurt your game as you get to play stronger players.  I would go with FCO and read Fine later, for more of an historical view of the openings, or to clarify why some lines are not mentioned in modern texts.  Hope this helps.

I think VDS's book can already be well understood and being useful to "advanced beginners", say rated from 1400 onwards.