To say that they would cost an arm and a leg might sound silly however in the early Colonial period a simple luxury like a family Bible when every inch of cargo space was essential to provide basic sustenance in the Starving Times can not be measured. Books would certainly be considered a luxury cargo compared to hard tack, flour, lard or salt pork which were essentials for surival.
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.