The best what I've found is git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/davej/history.git. History tracking there starts from Linux-0.01 but many comments are poor something like "Import 2.1.38pre1".
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.