Pawn endings are the basics of chess. Averbach's 1st volume - the first chess book I read.
The reason to study endgame
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A number of authors have suggested starting with the endgame, but I see no sign of a general agreement on how much one is expected to learn before looking at other aspects of chess. Indeed, I have not seen much in the way of attempts to address the question. IM Jeremy Silman is one author who has considered the matter and offered up a specific proposal: read pages 1-30 of Silman's Complete Endgame Course, and then "put aside" the book and give attention to other matters.
https://www.silmanjamespress.com/shop/chess/silmans-complete-endgame-course/
"In order to improve your game you must study the endgame before everything else; for, whereas the endings can be studied and mastered by themselves, the middlegame and the opening must be studied in relation to the endgame." ― Jose Raul Capablanca.
The words of the great maestro Capa never lost their actuality. We can understand why this advice is very relevant.
There is hardly any chess player who never experienced this situation.
You thoroughly played the opening stage, then scrupulously build up positional advantage, keep to the right strategic course, carefully make every move, avoid all your opponent's traps and tricks. The game reached the endgame stage when you were close to winning.
....And then you spoilt all your previous efforts not just by a single blunder, but by a whole series of inaccurate moves because you forgot how to play that type of endings properly. As a result, the mostly well played and nearly won game turned into a loss.
What loss can be more dramatic, more painful than this one? But it reveals that chess can be more than fun.