The problem with the Java APIs is that they do not fit in one book anymore. Even not in two thick volumes.

I cannot judge whether this volume II is a good addition on volume I and makes a complete reference. To buy volume II as a reference on its own gives a random selection of topics. The eleven chapters in this book are completely independent of each other. They describe multithreading, collections, networking, JDBC, remote objects, advanced Swing, advanced AWT, JavaBeans, security, internationalisation and native methods. The quality of the contents of the chapter varies. The chapter on multithreading is weak. It does not describe how to correctly make use of threads and be aware of the many pitfalls. The chapter on collections is reasonable but relatively basic.

The short introduction on JDBC and Remote Objects is only good as an introduction. It is insufficient for serious practical use. The two chapters on advanced Swing and AWT are reasonable but seem a bit out of place. They describe trees, tables, toolbars, sliders and tabbed panes, the Java2D API and drag and drop. If you are a GUI developer you probably want a separate reference only concentrating on Swing and the AWT topics.

To conclude, most people are probably better off buying specific references for the separate topics.