I would vote for Camel. Though I never used XAware... You can do lot of stuff very easily in Camel and is one of the best frameworks I ever used.
Given the lack of more specific information, I'd recommend giving Camel a serious look to see if it meets your needs. It has a strong community following, its open source, has good documentation, is lightweight and flexible (see architecture page for more information).
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.