Brewster Chamberlin is the author of several books, including novels, memoirs, travelogues, short stories, essays and poetry. During a lengthy career as a professor and archivist he also authored and coauthored numerous books and articles on 20th century European history. He completed three volumes of a four-part series set in Berlin during the first half of the 20th century.

Chamberlin lived in Key West until his death in 2020. He was Research Associate at the Key West Museum of Art and History, and served on its Board. He was also on the Boards of the Friends of the Key West Library and the Durrell School of Corfu, Greece (now the Durrell Library of Corfu), named after the brothers Lawrence and Gerald Durrell.