I use Mail component from Apache Zeta Components . It's really easy to use. I had a working prototype in under one hour.
Check out Zend_Mail - it has lots of options, you will probably find everything you need. Maybe not as simple as your code above, but as you said yourself, there are a lot of options.
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.