The Cycling Bible: The Complete Guide for All Cyclists from Novice to Expert
Covers all topics that may be useful to a novice cyclist. Devoting a page to each topic, it covers the history of the bike, types of bike, nutrition, all the way through to cycle friendly cities and mountain bike trails in different countries. There is a large section on racing and training, and a decent section on mountain biking, giving basic tips. But as it tries to cover all the bases it doesn't go into any depth.