I think for a C# developer with . NET background, the best way to enter functional programming is to learn F#.
Shameless plug: I'm the co-author (well, glorified editor really :) of Real World Functional Programming. It's squarely aimed at people such as yourself. It teaches the principles of functional programming, mostly via F#, and also shows how you can apply the same principles in many cases in C#.
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.