Embeddings of k-connected n-manifolds into R^(2n-k-1)

We obtain estimations for isotopy classes of embeddings of closed k-connected n-manifolds into R^{2n-k-1} for n>2k+5 and k\ge0. This is done in terms of an exact sequence involving the Whitney invariants and an explicitly constructed action of H_{k+1}(N;Z_2) on the set of embeddings. (For k\ne1 classification results were obtained by algebraic methods without direct construction of embeddings or homology invariants.) The proof involves reduction to classification of embeddings of punctured manifold and uses parametric connected sum of embeddings.