Whether to continue with separate files or consolidate in one ID file as a rebuilt book

Over many, many months, it has driven me somewhat mad to have a current book divided into 47 separate chapter files, along with 10 additional files for front and back matter. This division has hindered the curation of illustrations and design elements, as I would have benefited from viewing and considering the work as a whole. It would've allowed me to make or eliminate choices more effectively while working on the entire project. I understand the purpose of InDesign’s Book feature, but it hasn't been ideal for my needs, given a strong preference to see everything in context and make sweeping changes as necessary. This fragmentation truly slowed progress. Now, however, all design and editorial decisions are finally locked in, and I find myself contemplating whether to continue with these separate files or consolidate them into one InDesign file, rather than a PDF.

Why?

Initially, I started with just such a massive file containing all the chapters, but after over thousands of iterartions, it suddenly, eventually, suffered some corruption, necessitating the split into smaller components to recover and avoid further issues. It became apparent the 'Save As' function should’ve been used instead of merely saving. But unfortunately, it was too late then, and the new fragmentation came at the cost of maintaining an easy overview. Reassembling the book using the Book feature has not been enjoyable or appropirate it seems; it complicates pagination and introduces numerous other problems I’d rather avoid. Yet, here I am. I suspect I’d prefer the entire book to be a single file, assuming ID can handle it – about 400 pp. (200 spreads), with ~200 illustrations and anchored side notes instead of footnotes/endnotes.

I recognize forum members will rightly view this strictly from the perspective of seasoned ID professionals and question the approach. As an editor first and a designer with a more manual and intuitive style, I haven’t engaged with ID at the level that might've been ideal. I hope for some understanding, but for our current purposes, it’s about clarifying strategies for moving forward in ID for this book, where my primary role to date had been to conceptualize, edit, and manage.

For now, I have two main goals to address:

1. How can I best consolidate everything into one file if not with the Book feature, and can ID actually handle 200 spreads in a single file?

2. The significant task of rebuilding. Although I initially attempted to establish line measures, styles, alignments, column gutters, grid, and, most importantly, key content, at the start, it took considerable time to actually finalize. It simply evolved, contingent on many factors and myriad interrelated issues arose, some of which couldn’t be resolved as I progressed through chapter after chapter, developing editor’s notes, illustration choices, and design elements. It is a complex work of architecural theory, now annotated and illustrated. While the document may appear visually pleasing today, it is, underneath, a tangled mess of minor inconsistencies and manual adjustments. It's why I’m contemplating the major task of rebuilding. If I do, it must be done right this time (now that the harder creative and editorial work is done). Perhaps I'm not the one to do it, but after so much, I feel it is possibly the final hurdle. If I am to do it, then new threads  may cover some specific details.

Apologies for the length. A long road, circuitous, with poor process, but I do not question the end effect now in the final product. The book's impact and explications are miles above the poor process.