I prefer having the best of both worlds. I have a gecko and a guinea pig. However, if you have to chose just one, it depends what you like.
Small mammals are cheap, easy to care for, and fluffy (which is a big plus). Reptiles are exotic, have longer lifespans, and are almost alien in their beauty with their colorful scales and strange eyes. Both will make good companions and grow very attached to you if you give them lots of care and love.
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.