Sentence:  Such an episode in the Island's grand naval story her naval historians naturally <WSD>abridge</WSD>; one of them (G.P.R. James) candidly acknowledging that fain would he pass it over did not "impartiality forbid fastidiousness." 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To shorten or contract by using fewer words, yet retaining the sense; to epitomize; to condense(First attested in 1384.)<ref>(page=4)</ref>. (First attested from around (1350 to 1470))<ref name=SOED/>