good book on early Vedic period?

[mkapstei at UCHICAGO.EDU]

>Dear Dean,
>
>You might wish to take a look at Frits Staal's
>Discovering the Vedas (Penguin).
>
>I'm no specialist in this area, so my assessment is
>not based on particular knowledge of Vedic studies,
>but I find it to be far and away the most readable and - for
>one who is not specialized here - intellectually 
>stimulating treatment of
>the Vedic tradition that I have encountered.
>
>Matthew T. Kapstein
>Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies
>The University of Chicago Divinity School
>Directeur d'études
>Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris
>