This book is outstanding. It might be better titled "Distrubuted Database Applications with Java", as JDBC is not the primary focus. The focus is on a framework for developing distributed business objects in Java. The idea of isolating the business object from its "persistant" implementation is excellent and I will be putting it to work in my next project.
If you want an excellect framework for three-tier distrubuted applications that access a database, this book cannot be topped.