It looks to me that you gems aren't installed properly for your ruby 1.8.7 install, or you have gems installed that are not compatible with 1.8.7 and/or rails 2.3.4.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.