124 E. Washington Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
USA
Literati is thrilled to welcome Sam Walker who will be sharing his new book The Captain Class: The Hidden Force that Creates the World’s Greatest Teams
About The Captain Class
Walker starts with one of the most hotly debated questions in sports: What are the greatest teams ever—particularly those that sustained success over a long period of time. He devised a formula to compare the achievements of teams from leagues all over the world, and after painstakingly profiling thousands of them, produced a comprehensive, unbiased list of the 16 best. Period. At that point, Walker became obsessed with another, more complicated question: What did these teams have in common? A genius coach? A transcendent superstar? A groundbreaking system? Or was it all a matter of chemistry? A surprising pattern emerged: There was a very specific kind of leader at the center of these teams, a force that drove them to greatness, and they all shared eight specific characteristics. Who they are, who they are not, and the traits they shared will fascinate anyone who follows sports or is interested in building a team—and winning. Told through riveting stories of some of the most compelling and pressure-soaked moments in sports history, Walker not only brings these uncommon leaders to life, he presents a counterintuitive view of leadership—one that can apply to a wide spectrum of competitive disciplines, particularly business.
“Sam Walker has unlocked one of sports’ greatest mysteries: the secret to the success of 16 team dynasties. On nearly every page, you’ll be shaking your head at another revelation about how a team’s dominance is hard-wired to the team captain’s leadership. The Captain Class is one of the most surprising, best-written—and fun—sports books published in recent years.”—Don Van Natta Jr., Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times bestselling author of First Off the Tee
“Well-researched, wildly entertaining, and thought-provoking. In The Captain Class, Sam Walker presents compelling narratives about the secret ingredient to the greatest teams of all time—and quickly makes you reexamine long-held beliefs about leadership and the glue that binds winning teams together.”—Theo Epstein, President of Baseball Operations for the Chicago Cubs
Sam Walker is The Wall Street Journal’s page one editor overseeing its sports coverage across all print editions and digital platforms. A former reporter and columnist, Walker founded the Journal’s prizewinning daily sports pages in 2009. He is the author of Fantasyland, a bestselling account of his attempt to win Tout Wars, America’s top fantasy-baseball expert competition (of which he is a two-time champion). He lives in New York with his wife, Christy Fletcher, and their two children.
