Damaris Media

Damaris Books cover a variety of topics, including films, television and books, as well as relationships and philosophy. More details can be found below.

All Damaris Books are available to purchase on the Damaris online store. For book trade who wish to purchase quantities for reselling, please contact us for terms.

N.B. Advance notices of all publications (and occasional discount vouchers for money off purchases) are sent to members of the Damaris Internet Community.

Damaris eBooks are available on the iBookstore and on Amazon.

Humbled for a Season

Football is the world's favourite sport yet, according to many, the game has lost its soul. Steve Couch examines the arguments against football and looks for reasons to be optimistic. His conclusions suggest that the love many of us have for football goes far deeper than current controversies, reaching down to the very heart of what it means to be human.

Read an extract from this min-eBook.

For your iPad or iPhone	For your Kindle

What the Philosopher Saw: an unexpected journey from sex in the movies to the biggest questions in life

It is a popular view that love is best when it's liberated and free of commitment. Films like No Strings Attached examine whether it's possible for sex to be purely a physical act. Nick Pollard looks at sex in the movies and draws some surprising philosophical conclusions. But beware, this is a journey that will take you to some unexpected destinations.

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The Sixth Borough: The search for hope in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Jonathan Safran Foer's novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (now a major Hollywood film starring Sandra Bullock and Tom Hanks) explores one boy's search for meaning after the death of his father in the Twin Towers attacks. Peter S. Williams and Sophie Lister explore the deeper issues raised in both book and film, looking to point a way towards the answers that Oskar is searching for. Short enough to read in one sitting, deep enough to provoke further thought, this min-eBook from Damaris is the perfect stimulus for anyone sharing in Oskar's search for hope.

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Focus: The Art and Soul of Cinema

Films have never been more popular or, with the increase in television channels and home rentals, so readily available. But how much of what we watch do we really understand? Focus: The Art and Soul of Cinema explains how films communicate the worldview of the film-maker, helping us to engage more fully with the films we watch - and so to enjoy them more. With a passion for film and a deep concern to develop a robust Christian understanding of our culture, Tony Watkins equips us to recognise and respond to the messages in today's movies. Essential reading for anyone who enjoys films and who wants to get more out of their viewing experience.

Read an extract from this book.

For your iPad or iPhone	For your Kindle	Printed copy

Get More Like Jesus While Watching TV

Nick Pollard and Steve Couch’s book for people who consume television and don’t want to be consumed by it.

Following the structure of Romans 12:1-2, the book helps us to think about how our TV viewing habits can be either a force for good or ill in shaping our lives. Packed full of references and illustrations from the world of television, and packed full of explanations of relevant Bible passages. This book is ideal for anyone who watches TV (or who knows people who do) and who wants to be more like Jesus and more effective at sharing their faith.

The book includes study questions at the end of each chapter, and is ideal for use with small groups, as well as for individual reading.

For your iPad or iPhone	For your Kindle	Printed copy

Saving Sex

Dr Trevor Stammers and Tim Doak offer practical, down to earth responses to common questions that teenagers have about relationships and sex.

Each chapter includes an introduction offering a biblical perspective, followed by real questions from real teenagers, with answers that balance professional medical experience, straight talking and thoughtful pastoral care.

'Full of honesty, sensitivity and insight, Saving Sex provides answers to the questions most teens have about sexual issues. A must read for young people, youthworkers and parents.' Rachel Gardner and Dan Burke, Youth Workers and presenters of BBC2’s No Sex Please, We’re Teenagers

Purchase Saving Sex from the Damaris Online store.

Teenagers: Why Do They Do That?

Nick Pollard’s highly popular book for parents and teachers who want to understand teenager behaviour, now fully revised and updated.

'If there's one book to read to understand teenagers, it's this one.' Dr Trevor Stammers, Senior Tutor in General Practice, St. George’s Hospital Medical School.

Purchase Teenagers: Why Do They Do That? from the Damaris Online store.

If Only

"If only I were rich and successful. If only I were free to do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. If only I were healthy and secure. Then I would be happy. Then I would be content."

We spend our lives searching for happiness - but are we looking in the right place? This book tells the true-life stories of three people in search of an answer. Andy wants to be a millionaire and doesn't care how many people he treads on - until he is faced with his own mortality. Sharon wants to be free to use her own body and the bodies of others - until she ends up in a brothel. Jacqui thinks she will be happy when she forms her own stable, secure family - until personal tragedy strikes.

Purchase If Only from the Damaris Online store.

The Thinking Fan's Guide series

Written by fans for fans, the Thinking Fan’s Guide series is a celebration of what makes some of popular culture so good, and a critical analysis of the ideas that underpin the books, films and TV programmes covered. Written from a Christian perspective, but with no assumptions about the worldview of the reader, these books are ideal conversation-starting presents to give to Christians and non-Christians alike.

Back In Time: A Thinking Fan's Guide to Doctor Who

Back In Time is a celebration of the cult TV series Doctor Who, telling the story of the show from it's birth in 1963 to its 2005 return to British television screens, and offering a Christian perspective on the underlying themes of the show - such as death, tolerance and the human condition.

This is an ideal book for the Doctor Who fan in your life, Christian or otherwise.

'Fascinating and intelligent – a must for anyone who’s ever considered the why of Who'
Rob Shearman, scriptwriter on the 2005 series of Doctor Who

Purchase Back in Time: A Thinking Fan's Guide to Doctor Who from the Damaris Online store.

Dark Matter: A Thinking Fan's Guide to Philip Pullman

The second title in our popular Thinking Fan’s Guide series. Philip Pullman is a masterly storyteller, whose His Dark Materials trilogy has captivated readers across the world. More than this, he has described himself as deliberately writing to undermine the basis of Christianity. Tony Watkins considers the many merits of Pullman’s writing, as well as examining his themes and ideas.

Read an extract from this book.

An ideal book for any devotee of Philip Pullman’s work, who wants help in understanding the vast issues that Pullman raises.

‘Excellent analysis that will be insightful to new readers and long-time fans alike'
Phillip Pullman fan-site www.bridgetothestars.net

For your iPad or iPhone	For your Kindle	Printed copy

Matrix Revelations: A Thinking Fan's Guide to the Matrix Trilogy

The writers/directors Andy and Larry Wachowski have been using a powerful story to raise very big questions from beginning to end of the Matrix trilogy (despite the failure of some film critics to realise this). This book enables you to identify and consider those questions. In depth analysis of the films themselves, plus a Christian perspective on the ideas underpinning the trilogy.

Written by fans of the films for fans of the films who want more than just to fast forward to the next fight scene.

‘A multi-faceted, rich, illuminating and serious exploration of the Matrix film trilogy, and the major ideas behind it.’
Mark Greene, London Institute of Contemporary Christianity

Purchase Matrix Revelations: A Thinking Fan's Guide to the Matrix Trology from the Damaris Online store.

The Talking About series

Damaris’s Talking About series provides a mixture of articles and study guides exploring how popular culture, and the Bible respond to the big questions of the day.

Playing God: Talking About Ethics in Medicine and Technology

Playing God considers the impact that new developments in medicine and technology have on the life and death decisions that we constantly see reported in the news.

Nick Pollard, Dr Trevor Stammers, Tony Watkins, Caroline Puntis, Peter S. Williams, Dr Rebecca Lewis, Louise Crook and Dr Peter May look at the films Million Dollar Baby, Vera Drake, I, Robot, and The Island, the novels Oryx and Crake and My Sister’s Keeper, TV medical dramas and the philosophy of Peter Singer.

Purchase Playing God: Talking About Ethics in Medicine and Technology from the Damaris Online store.

Spooked: Talking About the Supernatural

Spooked explores the growing fascination that many people have for the world of the supernatural and helps Christians to respond to friends who describe themselves as ‘spiritual, but not religious’.

Nick Pollard, Ian Hamlin, Mark Stafford, Steve Couch, Tony Watkins, Rebecca Ward, Emily Dalrymple, Louise Crook and Peter S. Williams look at TV illusionist Derren Brown, film director M. Night Shyamalan, the film The Exorcism of Emily Rose, the growth of children’s supernatural fiction (including Philip Pullman and Harry Potter), the cult TV show Lost, the novel Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and the philosophy of A.J. Ayer.

Purchase Spooked: Talking About the Supernatural from the Damaris Online store.

Sex and the Cynics: Talking About the Search for Love

Sex and the Cynics explores the nature of love, with Nick Pollard, Tony Watkins, Caroline Puntis, Annie Porthouse, Steve Tilley, Steve Couch, Louise Crook, and Peter S. Williams, looking at Desperate Housewives, Love Actually, Closer, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The History of Love.

Purchase Sex and the Cynics: Talking About the Search for Love from the Damaris Online store.

Truth Wars: Talking About Tolerance

Truth Wars explores the modern obsession with tolerance, with Nick Pollard, Tony Watkins, Louise Crook, Louise Griffiths and Peter S. Williams looking atSaved, Hero, Jerry Springer: the Opera, Behzti, Not the End of the World, and Doctor Who.

Purchase Truth Wars: Talking About Tolerance from the Damaris Online store.

Non-Damaris books

C.S Lewis vs the New Atheists 

How might C.S. Lewis, author of the Chronicles of Narnia, respond to the twenty-first century 'new atheism' of Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and company? Might Lewis' own journey from atheism to Christian belief illuminate the objections of the new atheists? Philosopher Peter S. Williams takes us on an intellectual journey through Lewis' own journey of faith in conversation with today's anti-theists.

Purchase C.S Lewis vs the New Atheists from the Damaris online store.

A Sceptic's Guide to Atheism: God Is Not Dead

A Sceptic's Guide to Atheism: God Is Not Dead (Paternoster, 2009) is an accessible response to the contemporary anti-God arguments of the 'new atheists'. Christian philosopher Peter S. Williams explains the history of atheism and responds to the claims that 'belief in God causes more harm than good'; 'religion is about blind faith and science is the only way to know things'; 'science can explain religion away'; 'there is not enough evidence for God'; 'the arguments for God's existence do not work'. Williams argues that belief in God is more intellectually plausible than atheism.

Purchase A Sceptic's Guide to Atheism: God Is Not Dead from the Damaris online store.