You can use package ff and ffbase for this. It does not require your data to be in RAM as is the case for data.table. The following script will generate your 10Mio rows x 10 columns data.frame.
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.