Upgrade to 2.0. It's at M2 now and will be at RC soon, with a release in November. All classes are now reloadable in development including Groovy classes, and the reloading is smart enough to rebuild your database when a domain class changes.
So there won't be a need for JRebel.
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.