Home maintenance places like Home Depot or Lowes sell a water based primer for new drywall. The primer seal the paper surface of drywall so not so much paint is used for the color. The primer often costs less than the color coat.
Other primers may work better for priming over stained or smoked up walls.
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.