Daniel James Brown (born 1951) is an American author of narrative nonfiction books.

Brown's second book, The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride (2009), traces the footsteps of Sarah Graves, a young bride who left her home in Illinois in the spring of 1846, bound for California.

Sarah was one of a handful of the ill-fated Donner Party members who attempted to hike out of the Sierra Nevada to save herself and her family.

[5] Brown's fourth book, Facing the Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II (2021), covers the World War II patriotism and courage of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a special Japanese American Army unit that overcame brutal odds in Europe; their families, incarcerated behind barbed wire in the American West due to the American internment policy; and a young man who refused to surrender his constitutional rights, even if it meant imprisonment.

Under a Flaming Sky, The Great Hinckley Firestorm of 1894 (2006) The Indifferent Stars Above, The Harrowing Sage of a Donner Party Bride (2009) The Boys in the Boat, Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Olympics (2013)[12] On June 8, 2024, the University of Washington awarded Brown with an honorary degree.