Verbal abuse wears many forms. Isolating you from your friends is a form of control freakery. If this is an isolated event, you may overlook it, forgive, and forget.
But if this is a repetitive behavior - he is an abuser.
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.