I think Java is a great language for web programming. I would recommend one of these two books to get started: http://www.amazon.com/Murachs-Java-Servlets-JSP-2nd/dp/18907... http://www.amazon.com/Head-First-Servlets-JSP-Certified/dp/0...

These books cover jsp, servlets and other important aspects of java web development. Once you fully understand these concepts then you can branch off and use a framework such as: Spring, Grails, Struts, or Play! to ease the development of web applications.