The authors through this book explain how XML, Java servlets (and sometimes JSPs) could be used together in applications like Shopping cart and News Bulletin board.
Though the book contains a lot of code, two things are disappointing. First, DOM is implicitly suggested as a preferred means for working with XML documents even in cases where simple SAX parsing would do. Secondly, JAXP 1.0 API's beta classes like XmlDocument are extensively used in the examples. Both these are not very useful in the real world scenarios.
Though the book gives an impression from the title that it will be using JSPs to generate the presentation layer, the examples heavily use servlets with "hard coded HTML" in them for this purpose.
I happen to have a copy of Benoit Machall's "Applied XML Solutions" with me with which I cannot help comparing this book with. Applied XML Solutions explains similar examples in a practical way with simpler code as well as using open source software and stabilized APIs to achieve the same results.
So, these are a few things to consider before buying this book!