This was later revised and re-issued as a two-volume "Canada in North America", covering the periods to 1800 and 1800–1901. "Building the Canadian Nation" has been criticized for perpetuating stereotypes of French Canadians in their daily lives in New France. In this view, the stereotypes, which are traced back to the work of earlier scholars on New France and primary sources, have the effect of constructing French Canadians in the negative image of the contemporary (post-World War II) English Canadian, thus detaching them from the main narrative of Canadian history. In response, the passages in question were an effort to depict daily life in New France to students and to balance more traditional accounts that focus on leading historical figures and events. Brown's later publication of "Notre Histoire" with Charles Bilodeau, a respected Quebec historian, and his work as founding editor of the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography", the leading collaborative effort in Canada between anglophone and francophone historians, are both reflections of his core belief that English and French Canada were founding partners. Brown wrote several other textbooks and books of readings, including "Readings in Canadian History" (the first book of original source readings for high school students – part of a move towards more evidence-based teaching of Canadian history in schools) and "Canadian Democracy in Action" (a high school civics text), which was later revised as "Canadians and Their Government" (co-authored by Allen S. Merritt). Books of more general interest included "Canada" (an edited volume that was part of a series on members of the United Nations) and "Canada in the Making" (a collection of Brown's scholarly articles, with the title drawn from his Presidential address to the Canadian Historical Association). With J. M. S. Careless, Gerald M. Craig and Eldon Ray, he co-authored a "Spotlight on Canada Series" for general readers on different aspects of Canada's new international role in the post-World War II era, focusing on its place in the Commonwealth, the Americas, and the World. A consolidated version of the "Spotlight on Canada" series was also issued in a single volume edited by Alex A. Cameron under the title "Canada's Heritage". Brown married Vera Beatrice Kenny, a Victoria College classmate, in 1920 and they had two sons and two daughters. He was an active United Church of Canada layman and was a strong supporter of the ecumenical movement. He chaired the Committee on International Affairs of the Canadian Council of Churches, which for many years organized an annual Churchmen's Seminar on International Affairs..